More Links for 16 November 2008

Here’s another batch web links for 16 November 2008, posted semi-automatically.

  • Where Attention Flows, Money Follows | Kevin Kelly : The Technium: “The new rules for the new economy can be summarized as: Where ever attention flows, money will follow. Almost anything else except attention can be manufactured as a commodity. Luxury goods are only luxuries temporarily. They quickly are counterfeited and commodified. Premium brands are only premium because they garner a surplus of attention. Maintain an incoming flow of attention and money will follow.”
  • “Firewalls Under Fire”: Mark Newton talks internet censorship on Today show" | Hoyden About Town: Karl Stefanovic interviewed internet service provision expert and outspoken censorship critic Mark Newton on Friday’s Today Show. Here’s a transcript.
  • Ericsson W25 Fixed Wireless Terminal, 3G Fixed Wireless Terminal, EDGE, UTMS, 3G, Gateway, HSDPA: One one side it’s a standard Internet gateway device with Wi-Fi and 4-port Ethernet switch. On the other side it’s HSUPA mobile broadband. In between, it can run off an internal battery for 3 hours should the power fail. Add it all up and maybe this is what Stilgherrian Live can use for mobile programs. At least Our Man At Telstra thinks so. Stand by.
  • How to defeat internet censorship | DanuPoyner.com: “If you think we will defeat internet filtering just by being right or just because the facts are on our side — think again. This is politics. If we don'’to hear it – we WILL lose.” A good analysis.
  • Dr Google | Memex 1.1: Google search trends can predict flu outbreaks 7 to 10 days ahead of the US Centres for Disease Control.
  • The Barack SlideShow | Tools of Change for Publishing: “What’s notable is that the images are fairly informal — and they are on Flickr. This kind of photostream — not unique in itself — would previously, a generation ago, have been highly curated, entitled ‘The new presidential family waits for news’ and published the week following in Life or Look magazine. However, the Obama pictures appear less curated (or at least have that air), were published nearly instantly, and do not involve the mediation of traditional media. In fact, whether these are eventually printed or not as official administration photos is secondary, because they are available freely and publicly online.”
  • Election Night 11-04-08 | Flickr: An 82-image slideshow of how Barack Obama and his family spent election night, posted by BarackObama.com.
  • What I learned about Blogging from the US Presidential Election | ProBlogger: Guest writer Trisha from Ideas for Women points out the importance of having a personal narrative in your blog. I’m not sure whether I agree for all blogs, but it’s food for thought.
  • Japanese Sewer System | + megabunny: Apparently this is actually a flood control system rather than a sewer system, but it's still a fine set of photographs of this massive infrastructure project, only slightly spoilt by the unimaginative comparison to The Matrix.

What should I do about Australia 2020?

OK, so I didn’t make the 1000 “best and brightest” going to the Australia 2020 Summit. Nevertheless I’m still very interested in Topic 9, “the future of Australian governance: renewed democracy, a more open government (including the role of the media), the structure of the Federation and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.” What should I do?

There’s still the possibility of getting media accreditation, or perhaps connecting to the themes of the event in some other way. Here’s a brain-dump of my thoughts on this sunny Sunday morning… comments appreciated!

Continue reading “What should I do about Australia 2020?”

All you need is 1000 True Fans

Diagram of The Long Tail, showing that you only need the top 1000 true fans to reach your financial target

“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author — in other words, anyone producing works of art — needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.”

So says Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired magazine, in his latest essay 1000 True Fans.

It’s worth reading the full essay to completely grok what he’s on about. But in brief, a “true fan” is someone who’ll purchase anything and everything you produce.

They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans…

Kelly’s point is that the Internet allows you to find and stay in touch with True Fans cheaply and easily — globally. He gives some useful numbers to help think it through, and points to some examples which are already working.

Continue reading “All you need is 1000 True Fans”

The Four Stages of the Internet of Things

Further to comments in my piece about that Web 2.0 session, I’ve stumbled across Kevin Kelly’s explanation of The Four Stages in the Internet of Things, riffing of an essay by Tim Berners-Lee (i.e. the bloke what invented the web).

I can summarise the four stages like this:

  1. Connect all the computers together (i.e. the Internet)
  2. Connect and share pages of data (i.e. the World Wide Web)
  3. Connect and share individual data elements (Web 2.0 through Web 3.0?)
  4. Connect and share things themselves, not just the data about things

So where are we now?

Continue reading “The Four Stages of the Internet of Things”