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Are you coming to SMX social in NY on October 16th and 17th? Did I mention I’m going to be speaking along with other people like Rand, Rebecca, Neil, Cameron, Chris and whole bunch of other people too? Did you know Stephen Spencer will also be there, and he always drops some good tips. So here’s the registration form if you are thinking about it, and don’t wait to long I hear it’s a limited attendance event.

The night before the conference starts (Oct 15) the Internet Marketers of New York in conjunction with Best of the Web Directory is holding a charity party. The guys from BOTW are covering the cost of drinks for the night, but we’re asking everyone to contribute $40 at the door for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 100% of any money collected at the door will be going to charity. You don’t have to be going to SMX to attend it’s open to anyone in the area who wants to attend. Here’s the details

Town Tavern
3rd St and 6th Ave
Monday Oct 15th
7pm - 10PM

So we look forward to seeing you, please spread the word, and again big thanks to BOTW for pitching in.

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I filled out an invite to be part of the beta program for Sphere blog search a long time ago when Steve Rubel mentioned it back in October. I never was accepted but I was notified this morning it was live and I could blog about it after 7am so here goes.

Looking at Sphere Blog Search and the Sphere It Bookmarklet »

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So there I was cruising over to Google Zeitgeist hoping to find some data on local searches and I’m still upset that Zeitgeist doesn’t have an RSS feed (Hey Matt Cutts if hook you up with some Red Bull’s in Vegas can you make that happen for code jam 2006?) and I stumble across Google Current. Think Kurt Loder of MTV news explaining popular Google terms in a video, which I actually kind of liked. Oh yeah and did I mention that Google current video has an RSS feed and Google Zeitgeist doesn’t have an RSS feed.

Technorati Tags: google, google.zeitgeist, google.current

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I can’t see how you could be a player in this space and not have heard of Istockphoto, but hey I guess it’s possible. They have one of the largest most diverse library of stock photos all available for about $1 a pop. Let’s be honest you really can’t ask for more than than that. In a recent update however They announced they had been acquired by Getty Images

IStockphoto Acquired »

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This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone as it was bound to happen sooner or later, but the US Government wants Google to turn over some of it’s search records and history.

MercuryNews.com Feds after Google data

The Bush administration on Wednesday asked a federal judge to order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases.

The move is part of a government effort to revive an Internet child protection law struck down two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. The law was meant to punish online pornography sites that make their content accessible to minors. The government contends it needs the Google data to determine how often pornography shows up in online searches.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Justice Department lawyers revealed that Google has refused to comply with a subpoena issued last year for the records, which include a request for 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period.

The Mountain View-based search and advertising giant opposes releasing the information on a variety of grounds, saying it would violate the privacy rights of its users and reveal company trade secrets, according to court documents.

Good on Google for standing up to the feds, whether they will succeed or not is bit iffy right now. Kinda makes you regret installing that toolbar, webaccelerator, using personalized search, and GMail now doesn’t it?

Categories:( google | google | government | government | privacy | privacy | security | security)

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Is blogging. especially live blogging considered journalism? As the great Jedi Master Yoda said “Difficult to see the future is, always in motion, the blogosphere clouds everything…”. Ok well not exactly but he did say something close. The question still remains though is live blogging journalism? The waters continue to get muddier and muddier when people blog about events that get big media and TV airplay. For example take a look at the Live Blogging The Golden Globes Report Live Blogging the Golden Globes »

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Earlier this week Google launched Google Video, a service which allows you to download and play videos. Some big time players are participating in the distribution like CBS and the NBA. While some of these videos are free many of them have a nominal download fee (currently $$3.95 or less). This puts them on a level playing field with ITunes videos for the Video Ipod. Now I’m not big on TV and don’t have a need for watching a TV show or movie on my IPod but I understand how many people would want this service. Internet Based TV Network »

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I’ll admit I don’t use my Hotmail account for much of anything anymore but here’s a screen shot of what the new MSN Live email screen looks like. It works pretty much like an Ajax style Gmail. MSN Live Email Screen Shot »

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Jeremy Zawodny seems to be going through his own version of Dell Hell right now, and anyone who spent 60 minutes on the phone with a call center in India can empathize with his situation. However I’ve said this before (Bloggers Influence on Corporate Reputations), bloggers can’t do any more damage to a company or product than the company has already done to themselves. What bloggers can do is amplify the volume, both good and bad of that message, and that is why corporate America fears the attack of the blogs. Blogs decentralized power base have no allegiance to anyone or anything, and like ancient Rome it’s mob rules.  Plain and simple it’s fear, uncertainty and doubt, that has board rooms across America looking on in horror.

Ask yourself this question is there anything that Dell could do to make Jeremy feel confident enough to make a purchase from Dell again?

Technorati Tags: jeremy.zawodny, dell, dell.hell, customer.service

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In Case you missed it Google “clarified” some of the issues about the AOL partnership on their blog. Now John Battelle wonders if there isn’t a bit of “interpretation” going on

 John Battelle’s Searchblog: Google Clarifies John Battelle: Google and AOL Lame or are Telling Porkie Lies »

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While the New York Times has a decidedly schizophrenic approach to online content (making the old stuff subscription based, but publishing a free real estate blog). The Washington Post is at least moving in the right direction (WashingtonPost.com Extends Free Content Window) Washington Posts Extends Free Archives »

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According to Usability Guru Jakob Nielsen the internet now has over One Billion Users
World Wide Web Now Serving Over 1 Billion Users »

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According to Engadget Marc Antony’s laptop was stolen and is being held for ransom. Since the alleged perpetrators are asking for a cool $1 million speculation is running high that some juicy pictures of J-Lo are on the laptop. Could this be another case of someone reverse engineering some celebrity passwords?

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I got it on a very reliable source that post AOL the Google algorithm for the top 10 SERPS is going to look pretty close to this.

$URL(1) = “AOL.com”;
$URL(2) = “Weblogsinc.com”;
$URL(3) = “Amazon.com”;
$URL(4) = “Wikipedia.com”;
$URL(5) = “Ebay.com”;
$URL(6) = “Craigslist.com”;
$URL(7) = “About.com”;
$URL(8) = “EPinions.com”;
$URL(9) = “Bizrate.com”;
$URL(10) = Random_Blog();

RANDOMIZE($URL);

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My post over on Threadwatch about What Google gave up to Get AOL got Dugg, pretty kewl!

Digg Story

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Has anyone noticed Technorati going deeper than they used to? They also seem to be moving much quicker. I run a vanity search for my nickname to see if anybody mentions me [graywolf] and lately I’ve noticed it’s picking up my name from any posts I make at threadwatch and even comments I made on other blogs. Not sure what to make of it just yet, but if you are seeing it as well drop something in the comments.

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Aaron Pratt who runs SEO Buzz Box has been interviewing SEO folks like Jim Boykin, Aaron Wall, Rand Fishkin, and Smart It. Earlier this week he asked me to do an interview, So if you’re in the mood to hear what I have to say check out my interview.

I find it kind of funny hownobody likes being called “Mr.” and prefers their first name.

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I’m sure it’s completely coincidental that the Microsoft XBox 360 goes on sale in less than 4 days and I’ve chosen today to shamelessly plug the Video Game Blog that my brother-in-law is now writing. Not to worry this is a human authored blog filled with lots of snarky sarcasm. It’s his first blog and he’s still cutting his teeth, so cut him a little slack.

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Traffic Power or 1P.com has decided to sue my buddy Aaron Wall over comments made on his blog. Everyone in the industry has a uniformly low opinion of traffic power and their antics, however now they have attempted bully Aaron around with superior legal power. If you’d like to help Aaron out you can donate to his legal defense fund like I did. For more information your can follow any of the links below.

• Wall Street Journal: Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers
• LockerGnome: SEOBook vs. Traffic Power - Bloggers on Trial
• Slashdot: Blog Faces Lawsuit Over Reader Comments
• MediaChannel: Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers
• Search Engine Watch: Traffic Power Files Suit Against SEO Book
• Web Pro News: Aaron Wall Sued Over SEOBook Blog Comments
• Threadwatch: SEOBook Sued by Traffic Power Arsewipes, Considers Pulling Content
• Technorati
• Blogherald
• Toprank Blog

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Bloggers rejoice, the day of emancipation is at hand. Self-anointed savior of the blog world, Jason Calacanis announces the feedster 500, releasing us from the servitude of the Technorati 100.

tags: (jason calacanis | jasoncalacanis | feedster 500 | feedster500 | feedster | technorati 100 | technorati100 | technorati | weblogsinc )

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Ok Hugh is good, really good, but sometimes he nails it so perfectly it’s awe inspiring.

via: (gapingvoid.com)
tags: (live 8 | live8 )

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