2. Facebook.com

3. linkedin.com/in/wesphelan

4. Behance.net/wesphelandesign

After months in beta, MySpace finally officially rolled out the MyAds program, allowing for self serve ad creation and targeted placement throughout all of MySpace. For the record, this is the same program that larger advertisers had access to for some time ("hyper-targeted ads"), but now  the program is available to the advertising masses...a la Google and more directly Facebook. Personally, I think this will be embraced by small advertisers in droves. While not a pull medium like search, the ability to specifically target consumers based on relevant interest is powerful, albeit I do not think that MySpace's program, is anywhere as powerful as Facebook's Social Ads platform.

The roll out was timed to ride the momentum of the recent launch of  MySpace Music, a platform that allows independent artists & bands to market and sell their music to a rather large and appropriate audience. The ad creation tool makes it easy for any advertiser to create IAB standard 728x90 or 300x250 ads. It's a little restrictive, but for the Photoshop adverse, it works - upload an image or two, add text, done. The tool even includes a built in compression tool - you can upload an image up to 600k, not too shabby.

Here's an example of a test ad I created for my underwater photography website.

Although you cannot target based on user-defined keywords like you can on Facebook, I was able to target those interested in photography & scuba diving - again, not shabby at all. But this won't be the rifle shot case for every advertiser in every category.

Unlike Facebook, which currently stands alone as an independent, Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp / Fox Interactive empire can always leverage the eventual base of small advertisers in the future, possibly including many local advertisers, by running ads created through this system across other Newscorp properties.

MySpace was selling over $700million in ads annually without this program. The top four search engines have over 500,000 advertisers. Can MySpace tap into that pool? Only time will tell, but I think the long term answer is yes.

Key words: Representation, Social Networks, Mobile, Digital media

Are we teaching architectural construction appropriately? I don’t think we are.
Chris Lowry

Pivotal to the student’s ability to develop an architectural idea is their understanding of construction technology and reciprocally how it is taught. The ability to make informed evaluations of materials, structure, scale, form and assembly is inherent to the successful conclusion of a complete design and ultimately an understanding of how buildings are made. In our pursuit of this we are developing a case study approach methodology in our teaching of construction technology. The employment of case studies offers a direct correlation between specific knowledge and understanding we impart to the student and how it has been applied in practice.  This challenges the traditional textbook approach existing in many architecture schools where construction principles and ground rules are conveyed through autonomous studies of building parts. Additionally, the case study approach offers an inclusive appreciation of a building where the relationships between the core technology subject areas of construction, structures, sustainability and environmental design may be observed collectively along with architectural design and theory.

Key words: Architecture, Industry, Technology, Making, Anatomy

Model for Architecture Education
Faozi Ujam

The aim of my seminar is to initiate a debate on the various approaches or models in architectural education which are observed operating in schools of architecture, though these are my own observations in the first place. The paper has benefited from literature related to knowledge and organisation to draw some parallels. The first is Self-Action Model representing the role of individual educationist, in the second, the Interactional Model various educationists work independently. The third model, Transactional emphasises the holistic approach to understanding architecture as a process of transformation fuelled by embedded forces. My contribution to all this is the development of a fourth though transactional model which offers a structuralist umbrella for embracing education in schools of architecture.

Key words: Architecture Education, Transaction, Structure

2. Hitwise - Facebook is number 2 website, but the growth of social networks is slowing

3. EMarketer - Consumers Await on Social Networks
Consumers expect companies/organisations to have a presence on social networks

4. EMarketer - What Do Shoppers Research on the Web?
A study outlining what people research when looking to make purchases

5. EMarketer - Online Video Viewer Demographics

It's a great list that is surprisingly long, but like most things with the good comes the bad, so there's a few that I don't think would be working too well. What's most encouraging about this list is that;
1. It shows that being in a low interest category doesn't exclude you from talking to your consumers in this space
2. Most industries are covered here, as are businesses of all sizes
3. Most forms of social media are utilised, to varying degrees of size & cost
4. There's a discussion happening here...it's about talking to your consumers & miost importantly, listening too.

To make it more digestable I'll publish these in groups rather than the whole bunch. Today, kids, it's the letter "A".

3 Italia.  Social networks:  Facebook Business and La3 DVB-H groups.

Abbott Labs.  Social networks:  Facebook Labs Are Vital scholarship contest.

Absolut Vodka:

• Online video:  ABSOLUTworld.
• Social networks:  Top Bartender page on Facebook.

Accenture:

• Blogging:  Nine corporate blogs.
• Podcasting:  Five corporate podcasts.

Accuquote:

• Blogging:  Life Insurance blog.
• Podcasting:  Life Insurance podcast.

Acura:

• Social networks: Facebook Acura TSX Connect fan page.
• Widgets: Acura RDX Traffic on Yahoo.

Acuvue.  Social networks:  Facebook "Wink" application.

Addison Avenue.  Crowdsourcing:  Suggestion box.

Adidas.  Social networks: adidas soccer on myspace; 70% of ROI driven by pass-along, aka "never-ending friending."

Adobe. Tagging: Delicious account used to bookmark primarily tutorials.

Airplay.  Social networks:  Baseball Gameday Challenge Facebook application.

Amazon:

• Social networks:  Shelfari.
• Blogging:  Web Services blog.

AMC's Mad Men.  Microblogging:  Fake Twitter accounts.

American Express.  Blogging:  OPEN Forum.

American Red Cross.  Blogging:  Red Cross Chat.

Animal Planet.  Widgets:  Killer Clips widget on Yahoo.

Annie's Homegrown.  Blogging: Bernie's Blog (offline).

AOL.  Blogging: Vincent Ferrari tries to cancel his account.

Apple:

• Blogging: iPod's dirty little secret.
• Social networks: Apple Students group on Facebook.

ArcelorMittal.  Virtual worlds:  Second Life presence.

Artful Home.  Social networks: Community site.

AT&T:³⁰

• Microblogging:  ATTNews, ATTblueroom, and OnwardSmallBiz on Twitter.
• Online video:  Share AT&T channel on YouTube.
• Photosharing:  Flickr photostream.
• Social networks:  Facebook fan page.

Austin Ventures.  Social networks: Facebook page.

Avaya.  Blogging:  The Contact Center Insights Blog.

Avis.  Blogging:  We Try Harder.

Avon.  Social networks:  Canada Breast Cancer Crusade on Facebook.

ASAPS today announced a partnership agreement with RealSelf.com to provide consumers access to more accurate, timely, and realistic information about cosmetic procedures. RealSelf.com is an unbiased consumer resource for cosmetic treatment information that uses social media to encourage conversation between consumers on beauty-related topics.

ASAPS is the leading professional society of board-certified plastic surgeons specializing in cosmetic procedures.

This site isn't possible in Australia due to regulatory restrictions (forget that for a moment though), but it is a good example of a partnership that makes sense. Businesses should be actively seeking out these types of partnerships (of course where they make sense) to open up new routes to market, begin a dialogue with their consumers, and most importantly provide a return.

Another example of this sort of partnership in the medical field is between Sermo.com and Pfizer, whereby Pfizer now own a space where over 75,000 American GP's talk amongst themselves about all kinds of material.

MeDeploy v1.2 Updates:

• MeDeploy Indie is now FREE
• Trailers are now transcoded in hi-rez H.264
• Trailer resolution and playback size increased (Over twice the playback size!)
• All trailer are now delivered via "Edge" CDN delivery for much faster and higher quality playback
• Widgetbox powered "Viral Distribution" Web Widgets can now be automatically generated from within MeDeploy (No more manually building viral sales widgets!)
• Expanded Sales Reporting
• MeDeploy Indie can now generate 5 API Keys (previously 2) allowing for distribution to be launched across more locations around the net (MeDeploy Professional is Unlimited)
• Easier to use "Quick-Deploy" features for "no technical expertise needed" copy/paste distribution
• some minor tweaks and bug squashing

If you are not already using MeDeploy to launch distribution across your websites, social network profiles or anywhere else, there is no better time to get started! Get your free MeDeploy Indie account HERE.

Plotted using concentric circles (# Walmart Stores)

Heatmap version of Walmart store openings 

From what I read on the BrightKite (here) blog see SpacialKey may be implemented with Brightkite (here) the location based social networking tool.

In my research I focus on user collaboration. Social networks are a fascinating phenomenon that expand the definition of collaboration. 

Does the spread of social networking mean the end of the sales function? I doubt it, but if you are interested, another blogger makes that case:

http://nickpoint.co.uk/2008/06/26/the-death-of-salesmen-and-power-to-the-people/

Excessive newborn sleepiness only lasted for a couple of weeks, but the following are tips I found to be useful in keeping my baby awake during feedings:

• First off, undress the baby down to their diaper.  The skin-to-skin contact is not only good for establishing a bond with your baby, but it also keeps them from getting too hot so they can stay awake for feeding!
• Next keep a damp washcloth handy so that you can touch the cold cloth to baby's foot or leg to wake baby back up.
• Finally, rubbing their arm or leg-not in a soothing manor, but a little more vigorously, (but not rough)  will help to keep baby awake.

From its inception in 2004 at the O’Reily Media Web Conference, the word Web 2.0 as we have come to know it is the ‘newer’ type of web: “Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”

Fascination with this term and its incumbent definition has exploded in the past years.  What’s most ironic is that now I am blogging about the definition of web 2.0, on a WordPress blog that was built on a web 2.0 that is founded on web 2.0 processes.  Web 2.0 has its share of numerous definitions, each one encapsulating the idea of interconnectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content, as a platform that uses its strengths for global audiences.  Tim O’Reilly notes that Eric Schmidt’s abridged slogan of “don’t fight the Internet” is the essence of Web 2.0, in a manner that is conducive to building applications and services around the innovative and unique features of the Internet, as opposed to the Internet suiting up as a platform. Debates ensued the first Web 2.0 Conference, arguing that the web has become a platform leveraging the power of the long tail, as data with the driving force.  Most characteristic though, was the tendency to foster innovation composed by pulling together features from distributed developers, as the kind of “open source” and even “agile” development process.  These processes were typified by the so-called perpetual “beta”, and were consistent with the end of the traditional software adoption.

There are four hierarchal levels to Web 2.0 (O’Reily) that encompass principles of light weight business models and the syndication of content:
• Level 3 Applications:  These are the most “Web 2.0″ oriented and exist only on the Internet, deriving their effectiveness from the human interconnectivity, growing number of people who use these applications, and the networks effects made possible by Web 2.0.  Examples: eBay, Craigslist, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Skype, AdSense 
• Level-2 Applications: These can operate in an offline mode as well, but are most advantageous online.  The most cited example is Flickr, a photo-sharing database benefiting from its community generated tag base.
• Level-1 Applications:  These also operate offline but gain most of their features online, such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets & iTunes.
• Level-0 Applications:  These work as well offline as online. O’Reilly gave the examples of MapQuest, Yahoo! Local, and Google Maps

 
Non-web applications are categorized outside and above the hierarchy, such as email, instant-messaging clients, and the telephone. “Web 2.0″ alludes to the version-numbers commonly designated for software updates and hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web. The British Guardian newspaper, describes Web 2.0 as: “ …an idea in people’s heads rather than a reality. It’s actually an idea that the reciprocity between the user and the provider is what’s emphasised. In other words, genuine interactivity, if you like, simply because people can upload as well as download.”  The transition from websites as isolated objects into interlinked networking platforms that function as locally-available (in the perception of the user) has also become another idea for defining Web 2.0. 
 
Web 2.0 has had its share of defining moments (It’s interesting to note that the term Web 1.0 came into existence after the birth of Web 2.0). The most precise definition as of yet, came in 2006 when Tim O’Reilly offered a compact definition: ”Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”  Later that year, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Web 1.0 originator and inventor, was interviewed saying, “I think Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means.”  In April 2007, the Atlantic Monthly quoted Michael Hirschorn, “In the Web hype-o-sphere, things matter hugely until, very suddenly, they don’t matter at all. … Really cool people now like to talk about Web 3.0.”

The term took on new meaning when Marc Andreesen, the man who delivered Web 1.0 masses, wrote in his blog: “In the beginning, Web 2.0 was a conference. As conferences go, a good one — with a great name. … From there, it was easy to conclude that “Web 2.0″ was a thing, a noun, something to which you could refer to explain a new generation of Web services and Web companies.”

Professor Swanson concluded that Web 2.0 is not a ‘thing’, it’s an ‘organized vision’, as he expressed in one of his publications:  [A]n interorganizational community, comprised of a heterogeneous network of parties with a variety of material interests in an IS innovation, collectively creates and employs an organizing vision of the innovation that is central to decisions and actions affecting its development and diffusion. That organizing vision represents the product of the efforts of the members of that community to make sense (Weick 1995) of the innovation as an organizational opportunity.

This term has been the allusive, evasive, and yet remarkably compelling, so much so, that it continues to gain its fame as we try to really understand what it means, its implications on our lives, culture, economy, society, and the future.   The debate has only began…

Everything was going fine for the web -- the financial world had been unwinding its overleveraged excesses for nearly a year without nary a ripple into Silicon Valley -- until the launch of HoffSpace, a social network revolving around the oogachaka-ing, burger-wagging actor.

Some bloggers called it a bizarre nightmare. Others decried it as the end of social networks. They were probably joking. But they were right.

Hoffspace showed once and for all what the web sector had fought so hard to admit: These social networks had finally expanded a niche too far. No longer was it possible to argue that one day social networking sites would be anywhere near as good at making money as they were at expanding, fractal-like, into a grey goo of trivial matter.

Social networks spent too much time trying to build audiences without building a solid business model. The thinking was, let thousands of startups innovate in thousands of ways and one of them will stumble onto something big. The way eBay did with online auctions, or Google did with a better search engine.

But even the site voted most likely to succeed is still punting when it comes to financial success. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told a German paper this week that the site won’t have a business model for three years. “Growth is primary, revenue is secondary,” he said. On the face of it, that statement isn’t absurd. But coming last week, it sounded blindly out of touch. Facebook will surely survive, but smaller sites looking to it as a role model probably won’t.

This was the week when the Internet sector realized that not only are the good times over, but that much of the room we had for innovation is also gone. The time to experiment around with big, audacious ideas is passing. The invoice for that luxury is now due, and companies will have to either pay up or be so well-funded, like Facebook, that they can still afford tinker a bit. Money is what everyone is expecting from startups, simply because there is suddenly so much less of it around.

Of course, one thing that would help the sector would be if a major social networking company were to give enough of a peek into its books to show it has healthy cash flows, even a robust operating or net profit. But sites like Facebook and MySpace have been suspiciously shy about their financials so far, so that’s not likely to happen.

Many of these sites -- focused on social networks or widgets or other mere embellishments to the web that emerged over the past few years -- aren’t going to make it. Some with a smart focus, like LinkedIn, will muddle through. A few will be bought out cheap; others will live on as labors of love.

This is the destructive part of that celebrated and magical creative-destruction formula. A lot of areas in tech are probably going to find ways to keep growing, if more slowly: mobile advertising, perhaps, or cheaper, more efficient on-demand software.

Skeptics have been arguing for the past few years that social networking wasn’t a standalone business model, but a feature to enhance larger businesses with established business models. It seems that fate is finally happening. It just took a luminary like David Hasselhoff to make it real.

Download from Spatiallyrelevant.org

The Social Marketing Contract: Evolving Brands and Changing Realities

The market requires a new contract - The Social Marketing Contract

Thanks to Tweetdeck which though I consider a bandwidth hog, I can manage and filter my community with simple ease. It takes a mili-second to see what people are talking about and because it's a very targeted group of people talking about all things that are markting, PR and social media related, the content that we share amongst each other is usually pretty strong.

Peter Kim brought up some great points recently in which he explains the value of Twitter to him, as well as some of the splinter sites he likes devoted to to making his Twitter experience more powerful.  Last night I was thinking about this:

When and how could you have in the past, connected with so many great minds and thought leaders on such an immediate real time level?

Therein is the true value of Twitter. Connect and converse not only with your peers but people that make a difference in your professional life? Are you kidding me? How can you not realize the value in that? Even the biggest of skeptic has to see that and not the baseline entry level tag line that is wrapped around Twitter-"What are you doing?"

There are some rules of engagement that one should follow though and to that I have to give a shout out to Beth Harte and her "Why should i follow you post" I'd suggest checking it out. And then follow it up with Michael Brito's Twitter Manifesto post which is a nice dovetail from Beth's.

Twitter is a great tool as long as you understand the value and the context in which it can be used; but can be abused, However, as is the great self policing aspect of most online communities, the abusers or the posers usually don't last very long. Consider them like the travelling carnies. They usually are in town for the weekend and then you won't see them again. Missing teeth and all...

Just remember: Value begets value.  So If you are going to Tweet or you're going to participate then try and avoid the mundane and the banal. We can get that anywhere. But you should be using Twitter for the following reasons which I am going to scrape from Todd Defrens blog post on why PR people need to be in Twitter:

• Personal branding
• Knowledge
• Relationships

Wow, talk about value adds! And Twitter is freakin FREE! Are you kidding me? Listen, if you're reading this, then chances are you high that you already know about Twitter. That's cool. But maybe what you take away from this post is that there is a "way" to user Twitter right and I hope you "get" that more than anything else. Oh and you can follow me here,   http://www.twitter.com/@marc_meyer

I know I might be beating a dead horse here, but I'm going to throw Common Crafts Twitter Video back up.

1. A high-level of abstraction,

2. A lack of direct (or any) context for the reader,

3. An assumption of what starts a conversation,

4. A dense word-smithery, and

5. While I didn't mention it explicitly, the length of the post.

In a personal blog, one might think that these factors are permitted, given the nature of the content and the purpose of the blog. However, I insist that if a blog exists, readers are expected and therefore there needs to be (at least some) regard for the audience.

And some rules will apply, irrespective of the genre of the blog. I am grateful to Lorelle for putting these rules in a structured way. A better analysis than mine.

I have further come to believe that very few people read long posts (see #5 above). We have a fast shrinking attention span. We read only that which relevant to us, for that specific moment, and usually forget it after that data point has served its purpose. We seem to be seeking data rather than access knowledge. Byte size is over-hyped (is that a tautology or excessive exaggeration?)

Google search, for example, has caused a certain behavioral change in some of us, where we choose not to remember things (all things can be stored for future access). Anything can be Googled, even from a mobile. Doesn't matter where you are.

And while I was almost succumbing to this notion of progress and change in lifestyle, of living life byte-sized, I read:

"[...] I do slow-blogging or meditative blogging. At least that’s what I’d like to work towards. It takes time for the many loose strands of thought to converge into a unified post; it takes a lot of effort, a lot of energy, and a lot ( I know, I know sometimes too much) writing. And some posts never quite find their footing; they remain awkward and tangled when I don’t have enough time or courage or energy or ability to go deep." Slow Blogging: Context, Transitions and Traditions « (the new) bgblogging:

(Via George Seimens @ elearnspace > Chris Lott @ Ruminate.)

Along comes Michele Martin's post on Learning through Blogging, where she summarizes responses from bloggers and learners, of how participation helps the learning process, and within that, possibly, how the level of active participation affects the level of learning:

"I don't disagree that learners can get a lot from reading and 'lurking' online. Certainly I learn a ton from reading and I know that many others do, too.

[...] what I take issue with is the level of learning that takes place when you are only reading and not actively engaging with the content.

Looking at Bloom's Taxonomy, for example, we can see that passive reading might be effective for lower-order cognitive skill development, but when we start to move into higher order thinking, we really need to start actively engaging with information. How can I apply, analyze, evaluate and create without in some way interacting with this information? And even if I can, is my learning going to be as deep?" The Bamboo Project Blog: More on Learning Through Blogging: What Readers Think

Seeing the analysis of my failed post, I do realize now that it is not so much the length or the abstraction of the post that caused it to fail, it is perhaps that I wrote it fast and have not bothered to spend time (even after it was published) to check if I said exactly what I wanted to say, if I was coherent, complete and precise. And if the post was capable of transmitting the same message to my readers.

Slow blogging starts making sense now. In a way that, with enough and relevant thought, it enables slow, thoughtful and active participation, which further allows you to refine and build upon your ideas.

For starters, you have the profile page. It's just as feature filled as MySpace is, and laid out even more nicely. It's packed, but clean. Prominently displayed are your info (picture, name, about, a/s/l, fave game, online status), the games you're currently playing, and in my case, your PS3 Trophies. Secondary fields include your all-time favorite games, friend network, groups/clans, online IDs, and gaming setup, followed by the Web 2.0 standard video/photo galleries and comment section. After you've got your profile set up, you can then add games to it, add platforms, or add trophies, etc. Adding trophies is kinda hard since you have to look at your trophy list on your PS3 and add them individually from a drop down menu, but Playfire lists each and every trophy along with its accompanying icon and full description, which i found to be surprisingly dedicated of them. Would help to somehow sync with your PSN ID (too much to ask, i know), but the fact that their trophies are exact replicas of the 'real' thing makes it a touch easier.

Adding games to your profile is probably the funnest part of creating your account. It makes you think back to what tickled your pickle throughout your life, and posting them is like wearing badges of your experiences with them, which lets others know that you are the right person to talk to about said games. And don't worry--- no matter how abstract you think that game is/was, they'll have it with box art in tow. Once you add a game, clicking on it will lead you to its page. Here you'll find its forum, its top contributors, list of people who have it, list of those currently playing it, news, pictures & video, user reviews, and user ratings. One of the cool things about your game list is that you can take a quiz which generates random, user-submitted questions about the games you own. Once it runs out of games you have it asks you about other games, but if you have a beefed-out list, it'll last a while. Fun way to see how much you retained from each game, and probably useful for remembering the plotline of an old game in a series.

The community seems robust as hell, with thousands and thousands of members updating and contributing content all the time. There are a ton of clans and groups, most importantly this one. Please join it. Try Playfire for yourself and tell us how you like it.

Would you prefer to rent or own a home?

What  electronic device makes you happy?

What can't you live without?

Who's your favorite movie character?

Who's your hero?

What moment in your lifetime stands out the most?

Name a woman you most admire.

Can you name a famous painter? If so, who?

Who is your favorite band or singer?

What qualities should a man possess?

What about a woman? what qualities should she possess?

What do you like about yourself?

What job would you love to have?

If you could be anything, what would you be?

What makes you different from others?

What common trait do all of your friends have?

What do you need to improve about yourself?

What is your biggest regret?

What pisses you off the most?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What's your favorite food?

What's your favorite website?

What is always in your fridge?

What's the best book you ever read?

What magazine could you read anytime?

What famous woman in history most sticks out for you?

Who's your favorite actor?

Who's your favorite actress?

Do you hate anyone?

What skill would you like to have?

What is your fondest memory?

How would you like to die?

What is your current state of mind?

Self-discovery has never been in more need. I think today, our transparent self needs to get in touch with the people who are having a hard time being "real". Not only does this extend beyond social media, but I see it permeating everything these days. It's about disclosure and what we are articulating or trying to say. It's about having conversations. You should send this to the people that are in dire need of having or participating in conversations. Lets talk, lets exchange, lets share. and then lets compare answers.