Mark Glaser has a post up today on the virtues of the so-called “social media press release” (pic above): The Social Press Release: Multimedia, Two-Way, Direct to the Public. He runs through the arguments in favor of it and how apparently PR folk are starting to use it.

Perhaps I’m old school…ok, I am old school, but I’ve been dealing with media releases since 1997, when I was taught in a job how to write a good press release, so I have no issues with the current format of press releases and I don’t see an immediate need to dump them for this format, although I do take on board that others may prefer the style.

Press releases can be both bad and good, the bad usually comes from people who have no real idea how to write one. I get a mixture every day, some I read, some I just delete.?Ǭ† How a media release should work: short intro that includes exactly what’s in the release (the hook), second paragraph that expands on the details in the first one, maybe another paragraph if needed, two paragraphs of quotes (always important when pitching at the MSM as they may run them) then a concluding paragraph. Ideally the press release should never be longer than a page. That’s the formula I was taught and have always followed.

Here’s my issue with the social media release, and I think it’s a fatal flaw: there’s no hook. Leading with contact information is bizarre because contact info is only relevant for a follow up and is always best left in the footer. But to then have the headline below that, and “core news facts” with bullet points on the release….where’s the hook? General rule of thumb is you’ve got seconds to hook someone reading your press release before they delete it/ trash it: headline should lead with an immediate description (hook) of what the offering is. Good headlines help, but it’s that opening introduction that most people will read, you need to hook them there (headlines can’t always convey the vital info). Rejig a social media release to open with a hook then I’d think it would work a lot better.

I’ve been a big supporter of the WordPress designer community over the years, and I’ve gone into bat for honest WordPress designers before, often at my own detriment.

I’ve been looking around for a new template after a couple of failed attempts on Scriptlance and oDesk to get anything done. I ended up at Solostream and bought the WP-Magazine theme thinking that I could at least use it as a framework for what I had in mind. Now when I signed up I accepted that I could only use the work on one site, and that there would be a credit in the footer, but I didn’t read the EULA until I’d opened the now paid for template (in fact there is zero link to the EULA on the buy page so it was my first opportunity). Maybe I’m being a little too harsh here, but given I’ve just paid for a template I didn’t expect this:

WP-Magazine Theme 1.0 Basic END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AGREEMENT

IMPORTANT-READ CAREFULLY: This End-User License Agreement (“EULA”) is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and Solostream Web Studio for the SOFTWARE(s) identified above. By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, do not install or use the SOFTWARE.

1. The SOFTWARE is licensed, not sold.

2. GRANT OF LICENSE.

a. You MAY modify, install and/or use the SOFTWARE on NO MORE THAN ONE (1) website or blog owned by you.

b. You MAY NOT remove or modify any credits in the page footer area of the SOFTWARE.

3. DISTRIBUTION.

a. You MAY NOT sell, rent, lease, lend or otherwise redistribute the SOFTWARE in any form.

b. You MAY NOT sell, rent, lease, lend or otherwise redistribute derivative works based upon the SOFTWARE.

4. RESTRICTIONS.

a. You MAY NOT not use the SOFTWARE to perform any unauthorized transfer of information (e.g. transfer of files in violation of a copyright) or for any illegal purpose.

5. SUPPORT SERVICES.

a. Solostream Web Studio may – but is not required to – provide you with support related to your usage of the SOFTWARE.

6. TERMINATION.

a. Without prejudice to any other rights, Solostream Web Studio may terminate this EULA if you fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the SOFTWARE and remove it from any and all websites owned by you.

7. COPYRIGHT.

a. The SOFTWARE is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions.

b. You acknowledge that no title to the intellectual property in the SOFTWARE is transferred to you.

c. You further acknowledge that title and full ownership rights to the SOFTWARE will remain the exclusive property of the Solostream Web Studio and you will not acquire any rights to the SOFTWARE except as expressly set forth in this license.

d. You agree that any copies of the SOFTWARE will contain the same proprietary notices which appear on and in the SOFTWARE.

8. NO WARRANTIES.

a. Solostream Web Studio expressly disclaims any warranty for the SOFTWARE.

b. THE SOFTWARE AND ANY RELATED DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON INFRINGEMENT.

c. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE REMAINS WITH YOU.

9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

a. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLOSTREAM WEB STUDIO BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF THE DELIVERY, PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF SOLOSTREAM WEB STUDIO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN ANY EVENT, SOLOSTREAM WEB STUDIO’S LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF U.S.$1.00 OR LICENSE FEE PAID BY YOU.

10. MISCELLANEOUS.

a. Should you have any questions concerning this EULA, or if you desire to contact Solostream Web Studio for any reason, please contact by electronic mail at: michael@solostream.com.

No thanks for giving us money, no thanks and we might be able to help you if you get stuck. No, just lost of nasty legalese.

The take away bonus on this is the footer link is an SEO scam as well, linking “WordPress theme” back to Solostream; I’d accept a link back to them, but at a time where Google is nuts on paid links I’m paying for trouble having a blatant link like that there.

If I’m wrong, tell me, it’s why I’ve written this post. I’m seriously thinking about deleting the template and writing the $79 off as a tax loss.

Update: following the comments I think I’ll hold on to the template. As I said to Michael in an email: the EULA scared the shit out of me, completely. My only condition is that if I use it he assures me that he won’t pull it per the EULA, I think that’s the part that scared me the most, particularly given that it when I’m finished with it, it is unlikely to be identifiable. My skill set when it comes to WP templates is editing existing ones, I couldn’t start one from scratch to save me. I intend to spend hours customizing this, but I don’t like the idea that when I do so it could be pulled out from under me.

This weekends A-list navel gazing exercise is a subject (ironically) that has been debated before: that the blogosphere provides little original content and that most blogs don’t provide a value add in terms of analysis.

It’s true…and it’s not true.

It’s true if you only follow techmeme and a specific number of blogs, for example the space blogs like TechCrunch and Engaget (presuming both are leaders in each space) cover. There are a growing number of blogs covering this space; gadget blogs are a dime a dozen and there’s a growing number of people covering Web 2.0 as well. That they will sound like an echo chamber at times is a given, considering that there is always only going to be X amount of news to cover. This is no different to the MSM either.

But look outside the very small selection of blogs (as an overall percentage of all blogs) that people seem to be bitchmeming about and you’ll find an amazing variety of choice and opinion, with more original thought than any one could ever consume in a life time.

It comes back to stereotypes.

I thought we’d moved passed many of them. In the early days it was that blogs were nothing more than personal dairies, written by amateurs that provided no value outside of entertainment. Things changed over time, and then we had debates about whether bloggers could be or are journalists. Given that most MSM sites now have blogs that’s a debate that is mostly dead and burried. That the blogosphere lacks original thought should be another one of those stereotypes that should pass, because it’s simply not true. It’s no more true than saying all black people commit crimes just because some of them do.

Dave Winer talks about the early days of blogging, and how we were watching them, and not watching each other, and yet he links to Techmeme and mentions it as proof of the problem.; he’s doing exactly what he’s rallying against. It’s not Techmeme’s fault: what you consume is ultimately up to you. Dave, if you have an issue with the content on Techmeme: stop reading Techmeme, go out and find some new blogs. Start from scratch with your reading list. The problem isn’t the blogosphere, the problem is your personal consumption list. Change doesn’t deliver itself, change comes to those who seek it out, who act to make the change. If you feel that what you read isn’t original or doesn’t value add, go find other sites that meet your personal needs; they’re there, there’s hundreds of millions to choose from.

2Web Crew 21 is now live. And yes, I get questioned about this weeks shit storm, and no, I failed to use the c word once 🙂

Looking for a Footy tipping comp where you can compete with ppl like you? Join here. I’m a RL man by birth, but one thing I picked up from my nearly 10 years in Western Australia was footy tipping. Every job I had there had a Footy Tipping comp. It’s like religion, and it’s expected that you join. This comp is free, and you get to play with friends without the money 🙂

So I started another bush fire, at least among the growing list of self important so-called A listers who would happily crucify anyone who dare question their favorite startup of the minute.

I say A-List somewhat lightly, because the guy who’s come after me is someone who’s called Louis Gray. I’ve been blogging a bloody long time and for a lot of that time I’ve been reporting on the movers and shakers in blogging, and until a couple of months ago I’d never heard of this guy. His about page is as useful as tits on a bull: he does PR for a Silicon Valley technology company and found blogging in 2006. He’s talked about now at the same level as Calacanis, Scoble and Arrington, and yet he’s reached the lofty heights of 735 subscribers in Feedburner; probably more than this humble blog but this isn’t my main outlet.

So this Louis Gray decides that rather than attack my ideas, he needs to take me down a peg like some pious, self important c*nt.

Duncan Riley checked in with a quasi-analytic comment this morning

Notice the put down with “quasi-analytic,” lets not fight on ideas, lets denigrate the messenger.

And to put it bluntly, he missed the entire point. TechCrunch is right a lot of the time, but not today. FriendFeed is not the exact same thing as any service out there, and there’s no way that Duncan could have given the service its full due in his limited exposure to it.

That’s right, I forgot, I’m a complete retard who is completely unable to come to any conclusion unless I’ve used a service for as long as Gray has. Wanker.

Now lets get into the service: FriendFeed apparently slices, dices and cleans your kitchen:

FriendFeed has been described by different folks as a social Web lifestream, by others a Web services aggregator, or as a conversational platform. But it’s not just one of these things – it’s all of these things. There are a definitely a wide number of sites out there that let you share all your activity in one place, or to track friends’ activity, but FriendFeed is the only one that lets you share items directly to the feed, elevate discussions through comments and show “likes” to highlight individual posts.

OK, for starters a social web lifestream and web services aggregator are essentially the same thing; I think Gray says both of them for padding. “A Conversational Platform” is the key point here, because this is what Gray sees as the amazing thing about it.

Here’s where it gets completely bizarre:

Like Twitter, FriendFeed enables users to sift from the best of the blogosphere to find their friends and peers. No two individuals’ FriendFeed is exactly alike. And while I once questioned why anybody who wasn’t a Web services junkie and RSS maven would join, I’ve seen users who want to be consumers of information instead of producers of information enjoy the service, solely for communicating with friends. And while the term “friend” can vary from service to service, FriendFeed has got the formula right. I can see quickly who likes the same items I do, who contributes to FriendFeed conversations that I do, and if in need of new friends, I can use FriendFeed’s recommendation engine to suggest people my friends find interesting.

Note that in my original post I said that Twitter made up nearly half of the content in my friend feed, and yet Gray argues that FriendFeed is a tool for communicating with friends. Isn’t Twitter a tool for communicating with friends? why do I need separate tool exactly to communicate with friends about communications I’ve had, probably with those same friends on Twitter? Gray doesn’t answer the point, because there’s zero explanation.

Lets take the next source: blogs. Again, Gray talks about conversations, but we’ve seen all sorts of attempts at third party external commenting before. I can’t name the various browser plugins over the years that promised to allow visitors to chat or comment on a page. Then there was coComment and a number of clones that wanted to provided centralized comment tracking, enabling a conversation across pages and independent of the site. coComment reinvented itself into something primarily different because the idea = FAIL. So now we have a fancy RSS feed with comments. Note that the comments follow from a headline link, no content. [insert drag queen here] oh but you can have a conversation darling [/drag queen], and this appears to be the part Gray thinks I’ve missed because I haven’t participated. Here’s the thing Loiuse, if I want to participate in a conversation about a blog post or similar content, I’ll leave a comment on that blog, not a third party app, because if someone writes something worthy of conversation, they should have first call on the conversation, unless of course the topic is one that requires a blog post in itself.

Now lets get back to Mr Condescending:

Looking at Duncan’s stream on FriendFeed (http://friendfeed.com/duncanriley), I can see he imported his service and added friends, but he didn’t participate. He didn’t comment on other items. He didn’t respond to others’ comments. He didn’t “Like” anything. He took a very passive approach and it’s the interactivity of FriendFeed that sets the service apart.

Correct, I didn’t “like” anything because when I want to comment on an item, I’ll do it at the source, like the vast majority of people would. If it’s a Tweet I’ll reply on Twitter. If it’s a blog post, I’ll leave a comment. Why the fuck would I want to use a third party service? Why the fuck would I want to comment on a Tweet on FriendFeed? Or is it that I should just because he says so? Pass the bong…

He then continues to quote a couple of his mates then finishes by saying “Maybe Duncan will listen to this one.” Yep, I listened to this buzzword laden, failed to answer any of my key points and decided instead to denigrate me instead take down and personally I think it just makes him sound like a self important pious twat, but hey that’s just me. On the point of FriendFeed, the readers of TechCrunch voted very clearly, only 20% of people like FriendFeed. But hey, those people must be idiots as well, hey Loius, because you know best. FriendFeed is a decent enough service, but it’s not the second coming of christ no matter how much Gray pitches it. FriendFeed = More Hyped Yawn.

language warning

Following on from my post on TechCrunch calling out Jason “penny pincher” Calacanis for his call that people who seek balance in their lives should be fired, Robert “I’ve never done a startup of my own in my life” Scoble responds with this bullshit:

Calacanis is right: startups can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t afford?Ǭ†slackers

Jason Calacanis has started a big argument where Duncan Riley over at TechCrunch has stood up for slackers everywhere (he couches it in language of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìpro family?¢‚Ǩ¬ù in the family/life balance). The thing is, Duncan might talk to his boss, Mike Arrington. Did Mike get to where he is by slacking off and hanging out with his friends and having a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìreal life??¢‚Ǩ¬ù No. He worked his ass off. I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve caught Mike on several occasions working until 3 a.m. or later. And he still is doing that work ethic. Of course, that hard work pays off: Mike was on the Charlie Rose show this week.

So apparently if you spend time with your family your a slacker with no work ethic. Scoble can get fucked. I work fucking hard and although I may not get the balance side right, I always try to spend time with my family. That’s balance Scoble. Oh, and taking your son out to Tech events doesn’t count as family time 🙂

No one is arguing that you shouldn’t expect people you employ to work hard. Calcanis argued that there shouldn’t be balance (balance was the word he used, until he backtracked later). You know what: if succeeding in a startup means turning into a grade A cunt by never seeing your family and treating your employees like shit, you can fuck that right over again.

You only live once. Having a balance is a good thing. You can have balance and work fucking hard, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I know one thing for sure: no startup is worth losing my family over.

…launches an experimental satellite that will provide internet speeds upto 1.2gb/s (1200mb/s)

Via CNN

Japan launched a rocket Saturday carrying a satellite that will test new technology that promises to deliver “super high-speed Internet” service to homes and businesses around the world.

If the technology proves successful, subscribers with small dishes will connect to the Internet at speeds many times faster than what is now available over residential cable or DSL services.

The Associated Press said the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

The service initially would focus on the Asia-Pacific region close to Japan, a JAXA news release said.

“Among other uses, this will make possible great advances in telemedicine, which will bring high-quality medical treatment to remote areas, and in distance education, connecting students and teachers separated by great distances,” JAXA said.

This from Slashdot

Vlad Dolezal tips us to a philosophical take on why Linux hasn’t grown to challenge Windows as the most popular operating system. According to the author, the reason is simple; Linux is free, and humans tend not to equate free things with being valuable. “Here’s what Compy McNewb sees. He can get both OS’s for free. But one of them is worth over three hundred dollars, while the other one is worth nothing. ‘That’s not true!’ I hear you scream. ‘Linux is worth a lot! It’s just being offered for free!’ I know it’s not true that Linux is worth less than Windows. It’s far more valuable to the end user in terms of getting things done. But that’s not what Average Joe Computer Newbie sees. He sees a free product versus a three-hundred-dollar product he can get free. It’s all about the perception!”

WTF?

Price has nothing to do with it. See the success of Firefox for that.The thought that Windows reigns supreme due to price is delusional to say the best.

Now I’m no Windows fan (don’t even start me on that) and I enjoy Linux, but the difference isn’t the price, its in the usage. Linux has come a long way since I first tried switching in about 2002 (Red Hat 7.6, I know the distro because I just threw out the Dummies book it came with). It was hard then; drivers were thin and installing them required command line instructions. Today things have come along way. Distros are damn easy to install, and most things install without any need for the command line. But simply that’s most things, and presuming then that the hardware is supported. To give an example I tried Ubuntu on my last PC laptop (last year, and it wouldn’t have been 12 months old at the time) and it didn’t natively support the WiFi card. Despite hours trying to find support, no luck.?Ǭ† Linux still doesn’t always work 100% out of the box.

And then there’s the software. The favorite line of Linux fanboys is to argue that there is a Linux package that substitutes for anything. That’s true to a point, but that software isn’t always as fully featured as what is offered on Windows or Mac, and it tends to be ugly as well. Take The Gimp for example, great package that I used in a workplace for years, but the moment I had the opportunity to switch back to Photoshop I did. I recommend and install Open Office for people, but I went with iWork for my Macs because it’s slow and not nearly as nice to work with.

Of course the counter argument (and I’ve heard this plenty of times before) is that you can tweak Linux to make it look however you want. The problem for the average guy is he wants it to look good and work with everything out of the box. Windows is a pain, but it provides better hardware support and Vista is prettier out of the box.

Another point I’d note is that people don’t want to think about their operating system. It’s why people are switching from Windows to Mac and not Linux. In terms of setting things up Linux is a retrograde step, where as Mac’s just work. I never have to think about my OS with my two Macs, I just get on with my work, and if I need to install something it’s 100% going to work with the OS (presuming a Mac version, which is most things these days).

“It’s far more valuable to the end user in terms of getting things done“

Um, no, because most people don’t want the extra power and access. GTD in OS is using it, not fighting the OS to install drivers just because you can do more hardcore geek stuff with it. Windows remains familiar and relatively easy to use to the vast majority of people, Linux distros aren’t, its got nothing to do with $.

Last point though is we are starting to see Linux installed and being used, like on the EeePC I bought she who must be obeyed. Great little distro, everything there ready to use and no need to worry about drivers or what not. Although I can install XP on it I’ve got no plans to, because the distro works and is functional. That’s where Linux is going to make inroads, because in its current state it isn’t going to start winning the desktop wars, something that has been argued about for as long as I can remember. How many years were going to be the year of the Linux Desktop? 🙂 Linux will grow desktop marketshare at the low end, and possibly as the distros improve will then make further inroads as people become more comfortable with using Linux.

The website is up for the Prime Ministers 2020 conference (link). They’re taking applications, although if media reports are to be believed most of the positions will go to our self appointed elite, but ordinary folk might get a look in.

I didn’t expect the Government to have any focus on technology and ecommerce (the Government still doesn’t have an ICT policy) so I wasn’t disappointed.

However, there are a couple of streams where the internet gets a look in:

• Towards a creative Australia: the future of the arts, film and design includes “How to encourage participation in emerging global industries such as game design, the internet 2.0, graphics-rich applications and animation”
  Emerging? WTF? Two of America’s five top listed companies are in tech (Microsoft and Google), games sell more than movies, how exactly is this emerging globally exactly?
• Economic Infrastructure, the digital economy and the future of our cities includes “Ensure that digital technologies are harnessed to improve consumer services, business productivity and the delivery of government services.”
  read broadband at what Conroy is now saying should be min spec of 12mb/s, nearly third world levels given the rest of the world is rolling out 100mb/s

My natural inclination is to be negative on this, and yet there are at least two streams where people could talk tech, presuming we can actually get people up who understand Web 2.0. That in itself is a challenge, given the first stream will be stacked with actors, journalists and creative types, the second stream will hardly look at the internet given how screwed up we are after 11 years of the Howard Government being asleep at the infrastructure wheel.

I might apply. I wouldn’t bet on getting up, but you’ve got to be in it to win it. If anyone else is thinking of nominating let me know, happy to provide a reference or what ever else is needed in getting some friendly faces into the final makeup; ultimately what I care passionately about is that there’s a real voice or voices from the Web 2.0/ tech community at this event, at least trying to be heard. It’s all very well and good to snipe from the sidelines, but at least if one of us was there, we could put our case forward.

Any thoughts, let me know in the comments. To quote the new JFK, Barak Obama, YES WE CAN. 🙂