Say hello to Christopher Gabriel

We welcomed Christopher Gabriel into the world on March 20 at 1:26am. He was 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Everyone is well and happy :)

Time Warner to buy Bebo

Wow. Just when you think Web 1.0 doesn't get Web 2.0, AOL goes and buys Bebo. If you haven't heard of Bebo, it's not surprising. While it ranks third (after Facebook and MySpace) in the U.S., it's popular mostly with the younger set. But it's the number one socnet site in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand with about 40 million users. The price tag? $850 billion, according to Reuters. Now let's just hope AOL doesn't ruin it.

SXSW Opening Remarks Sketch

This is too good not to share--a "live drawn" sketch of Henry Jenkins' and Steven Johnson's opening remarks at SXSW this year. For more, visit Jenkin's blog.

Don't blame Twitter for the Zuckerberg interview gone bad

For those of you who didn't follow the happenings of SXSW, you may have missed out on what happened with the Mark Zuckerberg (the 23-year old billionaire owner of Facebook) keynote interview. Basically, Sarah Lacy from BusinessWeek interviewed him and the crowd was so disappointed they started Twittering live about how horrible the interview was.

This is the magic and wonder of Twitter, and really all social media. It allows for instant connection among the masses by filling the antiquated one-way media channel with noise. This is a good thing.

But not according to ZDNet O'Hear reporter who says:

"I think another factor in the keynote’s downfall was the use of Twitter as a so-called ‘back channel’. With keynote attendees able to share live commentary instantly, a negative response can spread like wildfire in a profound way that is very different to what’s possible without such connectivity."

Why, Mr. O'Hear, is this a downfall? Shall we revert to our naive trust in the mainstream media for all that is fair and good and not question? I think not. If anything Twitter added to the coverage by pointing out the interviews downfalls.

And btw, I would have posted this comment on ZDNet as well but their registration process is invasive--in addition to my name and email address, which I have no problem providing, it required that I provide my company's name and street address. Get with it ZDNet.

SXSW | Panels I would attend if I were attending

I'm about to have a baby in about two weeks here, so no SXSW for me this year. But I did look at the schedule for a colleague and wanted to share what I thought were some panels that shouldn't be missed.

SATURDAY

The Weird Turn Pro: Crowdsourcing For Creatives
11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Social Marketing Strategies Metrics, Where Are They?
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Social Network Coups: The Users are Revolting!
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

SUNDAY

Social Design Strategies
10:00 am - 11:00 am

The Science of Designing Interactions
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Magic and Mental Models: Using Illusion to Simplify Designs
11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Tools for Enchantment: 20 Ways to Woo Users
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

MONDAY

True Stories from Social Media Sites
11:30 am - 12:30 pm


If anyone is live blogging, please let me know. And if you're going, have a great time!

My new favorite cooking website

I heart allrecipes.com and I have for awhile now. The interface is great, allowing users to easily change proportions, print out recipe cards in a variety of sizes, and generally customize the experience as needed.

But today I discovered Cookthink.com, and well, wow. This site is cool. It allows you to search for recipes based on your cravings. So, for example, you can search by ingredient, dish, cusine or even mood.

A search for "yogurt" and "soulful" returned a recipe for White Gazpacho with Mint & Apple. A search for "uplifting" "Mexican" "chocolate" returned a recipe for a Flourless Chocolate Flour-Basil Torte.

It's by no means perfect, but as the data base grows based on user input, it can only get better. Plus the concept is great. It's metadata put to good use!

Show me the money

Here's what I want to know: when will organizations take the Internet seriously? Study after study shows its growing influence, yet budgets still remain in TV and print. Here's the latest:



Maybe as Marshall McLuhan says, it's just easier to live in the past than on the cutting edge. Too bad, since the opportunity is so great.