Author: Vince Kimball

A Third Place The social scientist Ray Oldenburg talks about how humans need a third place, besides work and home, to meet with friends, have a beer, discuss the events of the day, and enjoy some human interaction. Coffee shops, bars, hair salons, beer gardens, pool halls, clubs, and other hangouts are as vital as… Continue reading A Third Place

Old Friend, New War.  Brady Kiesling, a career US diplomat and an old college friend, just resigned from the US Foreign Service.  (Google News) Brady's letter of resignation to Colin Powell said that “Our fervent pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to squander the international legitimacy that has been America's most potent weapon… Continue reading Old Friend, New War

T-Mobile offers $30 yearly commitment, $40 month-to-month: T-Mobile has posted its new pricing plan and it's not exactly as reported. Gone is the $30 per month yearly commitment regional plan and the $50 per month unlimited national plan. In its place are two national plans, both unlimited: $30 per month for a yearly commitment, $40… Continue reading T-Mobile offers $30 yearly commitment, $40 month-to-month

Peterme: Casting your User Research. Peter Merholz discusses having the appropriate cast of users for research. There's an old adage that 90 percent of filmmaking is in the casting. Throughout the process of making a movie, doing the work up-front to get the right performers pays off and ultimately leads to a superior result. We've… Continue reading Peterme: Casting your User Research

OK, I’ve joined the modern world. I’ve been running Windows Server 2003 here for more than a week. You know, I’m impressed. This is the first time I’ve seen Microsoft not add UI googaw and not force crap on me. In fact, the OS came with IIS turned off. All non-essential services turned off. No… Continue reading Running Windows Server 2003

I see details are starting to spill out about the chip that'll power Apple's next desktop machines. Hint: it ain't no Motorola.  (the IBM PowerPC 970) And you guys thought I was fooling when I said Apple has some speedy new machines coming. Heh.  [The Scobleizer Weblog]

Broadcom pushes out firmware upgrade for 802.11g draft chipset: Various companies pushed ot firmware updates today using Broadcom's latest upgrade:

Frequent correspondent Nigel Ballard reports some remarkable results with the new firmware installed. I set up a bridged wireless Ethernet link through three solid walls (150 feet) using a pair of the Buffalo WBR-G54 radio's. I'm passing a Mitel VoIP phone, a 300K video stream, a 75Mb backup file transfer and randomly checking three Email… Continue reading Nigel Ballard

Time Warner Cable co-markets broadband wireless: SkyRiver Communications dropped me a line today to let me know that they had worked out what I think is a unique arrangement. Time Warner Cable will market SkyRiver's broadband wireless services in the San Diego County area market (300 square miles) that they serve alongside their cable and… Continue reading Time Warner Cable co-markets broadband wireless

The Corporate Weblog Manifesto. Thinking of doing a weblog about your product or your company? Here's my ideas of things to consider before you start. 1) Tell the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth. If your competitor has a product that's better than yours, link to it. You might as well. We'll find… Continue reading

The Corporate Weblog Manifesto.

Thinking of doing a weblog about your product or your company? Here's my ideas of things to consider before you start.

1) Tell the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth. If your competitor has a product that's better than yours, link to it. You might as well. We'll find it anyway.

2) Post fast on good news or bad. Someone say something bad about your product? Link to it — before the second or third site does — and answer its claims as best you can. Same if something good comes out about you. It's all about building long-term trust. The trick to building trust is to show up! If people are saying things about your product and you don't answer them, that distrust builds. Plus, if people are saying good things about your product, why not help Google find those pages as well?

3) Use a human voice. Don't get corporate lawyers and PR professionals to cleanse your speech. We can tell, believe me. Plus, you'll be too slow. If you're the last one to post, the joke is on you!

4) Make sure you support the latest software/web/human standards. If you don't know what the W3C is, find out. If you don't know what RSS feeds are, find out. If you don't know what weblogs.com is, find out. If you don't know how Google works, find out.

5) Have a thick skin. Even if you have Bill Gates' favorite product