NPR Starts A War
“That’s where National Public Radio comes in. The cost to NPR to play music will increase substantially. The costs to your local public radio station — those entities who are always begging for cash as it is — will increase substantially. Given the economics of the situation, it makes sense that if this ruling stands, these stations will chose to change their business models. Right now, they’re actively increasing audiences by streaming and podcasting and broadcasting online. That’s going to stop if the cost goes up.”
Defending Net neutrality and creative expression are going to be big calling cards for NPR in the next 10 years. The US is erupting in a civil war that is pitting outdated models (Current patent office practices, Recording Industry, loss of civil liberties and privacy) against individuals. The ONLY media outlet that has an INTEREST in protecting the individual’s rights is NPR.
NPR has an interest in having their listeners produce more and more of the content on NPR. NPR survives by delivering better content, not just more efficient delivery of any content.
NPR has an interest in seeing a stable, accessible and low cost internet. The biggest loser in the Net Neutrality fight could be NPR.
Those of my readers in the US: Your NPR station probably seems like a smalltime player in the bigger picture, but don’t make that mistake!, they are the ones who will go to the wall for you when you finally need them. They are the only ones who actually care about you, your rights and your country.
I can say that and not feel like I am exaggerating at all.
Trampoline Systems Raises $5.8 Million
London-based Trampoline Systems has become the first European “Enterprise 2.0†software developer to receive major investor backing, snagging a £3 million ($5.8m) financing round from affiliates of the Tudor Group. Trampoline intends to use the investment to increase sales operations, intensify R&D and establish a strategic presence in North America. The deal provides further evidence that Enterprise 2.0 is gaining traction with established organizations.
Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality is the biggest domestic civil rights issues any of us will face, perhaps in our lifetimes.
Do not take it lightly. The internet as we know and love it is a gift, if corporations were developing it now, it would be entirely different and things like Facebook, MySpace, BitTorrent and everything else you love would not exist. They were never in the “corporate interest” when they began.
Cairo
Laurel and I have been in Cairo for 3 days and it’s been great. 
It’s not the kind of city you can just spend 3 days in, it would take weeks to really see what Cairo has to offer.
Today we went to see the pyramids. We used one of the drivers from our hotel, which was overpriced (by a long shot) but fun. I think we were the only people who had a guy in a black suit and sunglasses escorting us around, and were certainly the only ones who’s guide was buying off guards to get us in to places that say “do not enter”.
Tomorrow we are heading south to Soma Bay to stay for a few days. We will be taking a much more laid-back approach at the resort and we’ll be glad to have some time each day to keeping up on work, etc.
Value to the audience
“We could move towards a pay-to-present model for DemoCampToronto. This would help cover the costs associated with holding a DemoCamp. These costs while minimal, are starting real, and run approximately $500/event. Different venues have different costs.”
Firestoker in the UK?
“A few days rest and then off next week to the UK where I am starting the beta testing of Firestoker.”
Things are afoot!
AllPeers Goes Open Source
Of course, we’re unlikely to revolutionize the web all by ourselves. That’s why we’re proud to announce that we’ve opened up the source code for AllPeers to other software developers. We hope that this will encourage developers to join our community, help us to improve our code and create their own applications on top of our platform.
Social Media Thuggery
Toronto is going to have the distinct pleasure of welcoming Euan Semple in April. He will be in town to do a talk at a conference and I think we’ll have him for a few days.
I’m not sure exactly what Euan’s availability is, but if your organization is thinking about getting all 2.0 in the back-end, or front-end, you’d be smart to ping him and see you can get an hour or more.
I think a bloggers dinner will be in order as well?
Starbucks’ ‘venti’ problem - Los Angeles Times
“But the Schultz memo is interesting and useful nonetheless, because it shows that even an iconic company that serves a highly addictive product can water down the immense value of its brand by expanding too far and too fast and in too many directions at once. Sadly, this is a fate that befalls many American companies. Time and again in recent years, we’ve seen small, cutting-edge and quirky brands gain critical mass — only to lose their charm and customer appeal after they engage in breakneck expansion.”
Try Out A Funny Caption
“The news camera never lies but sometimes the moment of a photo puts a twist on the subject’s face. Submit a caption for these two Charlottetown politicians in photos taken Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007″
The Guardian, the local newspaper for Charlottetown, PEI, has started allowing comments on stories online, and it has added a whole new dimension to local news. Fun, and funny.
