BlogGates

In the original version of G-Money and Me: Bill Gates Interview, Bill Gates told the following about using a blog on his own:

I’ve toyed with doing one myself, but I don’t want to be one of those people who start and then don’t finish it, and again I’m thinking maybe I could do one a month or one every six weeks–something like that. I’d kind of like to, but I’ve got to be sure I can keep going for at least a year to make it worth doing.

Unfortunately, this paragraph has been erased. Perhaps Mr. Gates himself did not want to see further speculation circulating on other blogs? In the end, it is unavoidable – people will talk about this. I wonder if Mr. Gates would write his blog all alone or let some of his staff members produce the content similar to a corporate blog as found in GoogleBlog. Does the question concerning credibility arise again?

/von

Reality Surfing: Seven Theses about Weblogs

,

Seven fischerAppelt-Theses about Weblogs

PRPortal.de concludes a few interesting ideas concerning the development and current situation about blogs. The article is in german and can be found here.

1. A flash in the Pan or Revolution?
The Blogging-Trend will change the public communication deeply in 2005

2. Anarchy or Democracy?
Weblogs soften the traditional borders between formal and informal communication.

3. Gossip Factory or Clearing?
The informal distribution and rapidity of weblogs can aid to support company crisis, serve as early warning system but may optimize crisis management.

4. Digital Whirring or Direct Dialogue?
Weblogs offer new chances for opinion research and corporate communication.

5. Radarcontrol or Overflow?
Weblogs challenge the media observers and analysis for companies.

6. Blog-Solo or Corporate Symphony?
As new tool for communication, corporate weblogs must become embedded into the communication strategy.

7. New Foglight or Transparency?
Corporate Weblogs will only become successful once they challenge the dialogue openly and credibly.

/von

Weekly Blogspirit Suggestions

Feedreader and Referrer Statistics
Since Blogspirit offers the syndication with common protocols (RSS or Atom), I wondered about who was reading the blog secretly during my absence. I believe it might become some useful information to keep track of the software by recording the user-agents similar to the operating-system statistics, or websites in general which might use php or other server processes to implement the blog’s content. Additionally, a general and unlimited list of referrers would aid the idea to control the interlinking of the content written in our blogs. Overall, this might help to understand how much circulation, hits and click-thrus are generated by these feeds.

/von

The Holnis Peninsula

Sometime in late fall 2003, I went out for a walk on a sunny day and took a few photos with my digital camera. One of these pictures serves in an edited format as current desktop wallpaper. I took this photo while the sunbeams covered my skin with warmth and bright light, but I filtered the image in Adobe Photoshop with a blue saturation and difference-clouds.


download 129kb

/von

Tsunami Victims vs. Iraq Targets

So far the US government has pledged $350 million to the victims of the tsunami. But the USA has spent $148 billion on the Iraq war which has been running for nearly 656 days. The conclusion of this is a mathmatical solution in which the money pledged for the tsunami disaster by the United States is the equivalent of one and a half day’s spending in their War against Iraq. What is more important for our world – to help those suffering people or cause exactly this to others – the daily death and turmoil?

The victims of the tsunami pay the price of war on Iraq

/von

The Daily Portion of Madness

Me and my girlfriend strumbled upon a few articles about blogs and bloggers in online release of the german newsmagazine Der Spiegel.

Tägliche Ration Wahnsinn – 08. January 2005: The authors reflect their thoughts concerning the newly accquired hobby of the Germans in comparision with the local development of blogs in the USA. Furthermore, they express the interest of multi-national companies in utilizing blogs as a media for press-releases which are hidden inside the usual content of blogs. Mediaservices and newspapers accquire blogs as an innovative addition to the common program-content or to find new targetgroups to canalize their audience. Germany might find itself in a situation where blogs create political opinions similar to the events prior to the 2004 US-Election in America.

Blogger heizen Jamba ein – 06. January 2005: Overall, approximately 20-30% of the current TV commercials in Germany consist of the continously beeping, ringing and singing sounds and images of Jamba. The distributor for ring tones and logos for mobile phones rips off younths as they waste their money for nothing else but services. The blog Spreeblick began to criticize this tactic and behavior of the company, and many other bloggers joined in. All out of the sudden, the large german company „Jamba“ found itself on the verge of public ruin as the newspapers and magazines took up the story.

More „Der Spiegel“ about blogs:

Input from other Blogs:

/von

Typos Create Disorder

Whenever I browse to the hosting provider of my blog, I start to read the several blogs which appear to be updated most frequently. But a few minutes ago I noticed an amusing typo which drew my attention: „New: BogSpirit communities launch!“

Merriam Webster Online explains the following about the mysterious bog:

It is a „wet spongy ground; a poorly drained usually acid area rich in accumulated plant material, frequently surrounding a body of open water, and having a characteristic flora (as of sedges, heaths, and sphagnum).“

This is delicious – and a truely amusing blogospheric moment. Are we blogging for bog? Has bog truely a spiritual side, a charma which stays hidden beneath the surface of the morasty bog? I have no answer for this yet…

/von

Lifeless Reasons for Blogging

The new year 2005 rings in a new uprise for the internet community. Several people who were never aware of their abilities make the decision to create their unique experience of blogging. The motivation is strangely found in the aspects of their microspheric environment represented through their usual personal form of living. The new blogs consist of a writing based on the author’s „self-consciousness, self-doubt, awkwardness, and overcompensation“ (Dennis A. Mahoney) which causes the pseudo-literate and often educated reader to endlessly ignore and overread the interesting, yet unfortunately mis-constructed content.

Examples and Problems: Quite regularly the blogs contain information on the most simple things (e.g. new year’s resolutions, wishes, dreams, emotions) and have no bond towards a group or greater area of response. The authors neither express themselves in a broarder sense for community nor allow a kind of individualisation for their readers, as the content holds no context of continuity or deeper infestation of the mind.

A blog is considered to be either a private or public installment of the author’s content, but such open publication requires effort and continous enhancement on both the reader’s and author’s side. To accquire a higher frequency of readers, the authors may relate to the „7 C’s of Web Design“ expressed by Dr. Philip Kotler: Context, Content, Community, Communication, Connection, Commerce, and Customization. Each author may inherit itself from these factors.

/von

Future Visionary

Several people express themselves through the past, presence and/or future in respect to their daily life and possibilities for a tomorrow. Certain cultures and individuals respect the past as a way on how to learn and to be educated in order to avoid mistakes and errors or to achieve a progress and advancement. Another group has no true bond to the past nor future as they strive for survival in our modern world without looking back at their past or consideration of the future. The third group is represented by those who are aware of the past (especially their own past), the actual and most present situation, yet prefer to create a future by stepping ahead of the commonly known sphere of existence into a state of art which enables them to see beyond the situation, to find a solution that is nearly impossible to be found by the others.

For myself, I have decided to build up three phases in order to create my own personal future planning. At the first step, I create my goals which are usually centered around the now and nearer then. However, these goals are not limiting myself in my actions and activity, but only to support and serve as a base for focus. Therefore, these goals may change as time progresses. The goals are tightly created, shortly knitted together and serve as the first set of steps towards the following phases, and there are plenty of goals within a human being’s life. A second phase is found within the motives for life with and within the current society. While the goals provide a foundation to create and maintain order, the motives give the essence to counter against the normalities of life. Within this phase, the progress broadens itself and allows an even wider focus towards the futurous plan. These motives either depend on the previously defined goals, but may even exist without relation or respondence of these since their role is more important and more creative than the original set of rules applied by the goals. All of these two phases lead to the final stage where goals and motives become visions. These visions serve as expectancy for my personal future. How I see myself and my role for society, the work done in the past and the reference to my personal satisfaction can be found here as well as my most monetary and fundamental thoughts concerning the progress and advancement of my life. All these phases may exist under several topics – i.e. societal, financial, emotional, educational, or sacret themes, and each of these individual strings serve as a root towards the overlaying vision of the future.

/von

Rat-Race for Money

I noticed the increase of newsreports concerning the official aid programs to the countries and people affected by the recent Tsunami wave. Many countries offered their monetary help within the rage of a few 10-20 million Dollars as far as to the week between Christmas and New Year Eve. But suddenly these countries (especially their leaders) sought this call for assistance and moved it into a medial struggle for the one who will spend the most money to the disaster’s victims. I wonder who can actually pay all these funds while the countries who wish to raise the money are already drowned in debt?

In my opinion, its only a measurement on new political power. Who can compete against the „US World Police“ as „XYZ World Aide“? The politicians secretly exploit the tragedy within the rather shiney interest for the victims. How can Germany offer 500 million Euros (current status) extra money – while our population gave 200 million Euros from private savings? Apparently, Australia offered 1 billion Dollars over last night, and the European Union did not hesitate to combine everything to offer 1.5 billion on their own (including Germany). One the first hand, I detest the idea in which each government tries to outgun the other with their funds as seen in this new Rat-Race for nothing else but digital money. On the other hand, I prefer to see money being spend senseful and intensive for the victims. Nevertheless, I must point out that I love the idea and all the effort to help the victims: I encourage everybody to devote your own small part to assist them – be it money or be it your personal help in your or their society.

/von