www.josschuurmans.com

Compleet interview met Julian Assange | NOS Nieuws

Social Media Growth - Online Advertising Opportunity | YouTube

#NED beats #BRA in #Worldcup football; one Brazil player sent off #historyrepeatsitself

Holland vs Brazil World Cup 1974. History tends to repeat itself...

Thomas Power on the transition from CSC to ORS (video, 3:59 min.)

Thomas Power on the transition from CSC (closed, selective, controlling) to ORS (open, random, supportive).

The big shift we are making this century is from institutional to networked thinking. Very cluetrain, too!

(Via Erwin Blom)

Social Media in Plain English (video, 3:44 min). | CommonCraft.com

'Web 3.0', video by Kate Ray (14:25 min.)

Kate Ray's 14:25 minutes video documentary on "Web 3.0". Useful introduction to the concept of the semantic web.

Web 3.0 from Kate Ray on Vimeo.

Web 3.0 by Kate Ray is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

A shorter version of our Cluetail video

This is a shorter (2:42 min.), faster and slightly self-censored version of Jos Schuurmans's introduction to Cluetail and Cluetail Lunch Date.

The original 3:51 minutes version accompanied Cluetail's submission to the MindTrek Launchpad competition at the MindTrek conference in Tampere, Finland, on October 1st, 2009.

As it happens, Cluetail was not selected to present at the Launchpad event. But we will be there, so please hook up with us and check out our app!

While we're at it, I thought I could embed both the YouTube and the Blip.tv versions, just to see if/how they appear differently.

[TRANSCRIPT STARTS]

"(...) So, Cluetail is a tribute to the Cluetrain Manifesto and the Long Tail.

We totally dig it that 'markets are conversations', that the Internet is one huge pool of conversations, and the best clues are often found in the 'Long Tail'.

If you would like to draw a popularity graph of online conversations, you would get a typical 'Long Tail' graph, which is a power law graph which is extended quite indefinitely.

Britney Spears's appearance on the MTV Music Awards may very well be one of the most popular conversations on the day after the awards.

However, if you would take any individual person apart, and asked them, "What is the most relevant conversation to you today?", it would most likely be a conversation that takes place somewhere down the 'Long Tail'.

Cluetail actually connects people to the online conversation that are most relevant to them, and to the people who are engaged in those conversations, who are most relevant to them.

We believe that there is actually an enormous un-tapped value in the 'Long Tail'.

Companies like Nokia and Apple are fairly good at connecting people to the people who are listed in their contacts list on their mobile devices.

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing are fairly good at connecting people to the things that they know how to search for.

Companies like Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and other 'Social Web' services are starting to be good at connecting people to the people in their social networks.

However, all the methods that these services use are based on popularity and serendipity. In other words: ranking high on Google results pages, or coincidence.

Now, at Cluetail [W]e look at the social objects that people share online. For example, blog posts, social bookmarks on Delicious and other services, shared reading...

We are developing several applications. Some are for businesses and organizations, and some are web services that anyone can use.

So, for example if you have a fairly large intranet, Cluetail can help identify the people in the company who are currently perhaps working in silos but who might actually talk to each other because they have similar interests or they are working on similar ideas.

Another example is our 'Lunch Date' application. So, based on your location and on the social objects that you've shared online, we can recommend to you a person with whom you might want to have lunch today.

Oh, my phone is ringing.

It looks like my lunch date has arrived, so I'll better go and meet her.

Thank you. (...)"

[TRANSCRIPT ENDS]

Cluetail Lunch Date video

[UPDATE, September 10, 2009: I posted a shorter version of this video (2:42 minutes).]

This video accompanies Cluetail's submission to the MindTrek Launchpad competition. The deadline for the competition passed yesterday. Finalists will present their cases at the MindTrek conference in Tampere, Finland, on October 1st, 2009.

[TRANSCRIPT STARTS]

"(...) So, Cluetail is a tribute to the Cluetrain Manifesto and the Long Tail.

We totally dig it that 'markets are conversations', that the Internet is one huge pool of conversations, and the best clues are often found in the 'Long Tail'.

If you would like to draw a popularity graph of online conversations, you would get a typical 'Long Tail' graph, which is a power law graph which is extended quite indefinitely.

Britney Spears's appearance on the MTV Music Awards may very well be one of the most popular conversations on the day after the awards.

However, if you would take any individual person apart, and asked them, "What is the most relevant conversation to you today?", it would most likely be a conversation that takes place somewhere down the 'Long Tail'.

Cluetail actually connects people to the online conversation that are most relevant to them, and to the people who are engaged in those conversations, who are most relevant to them.

We believe that there is actually an enormous un-tapped value in the 'Long Tail'.

Companies like Nokia and Apple are fairly good at connecting people to the people who are listed in their contacts list on their mobile devices.

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing are fairly good at connecting people to the things that they know how to search for.

Companies like Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and other 'Social Web' services are starting to be good at connecting people to the people in their social networks.

However, all the methods that these services use are based on popularity and serendipity. In other words: ranking high on Google results pages, or coincidence.

Now, at Cluetail we look at the social objects that people share online. For example, blog posts, social bookmarks on Delicious and other services, shared reading...

We are developing several applications. Some are for businesses and organizations, and some are web services that anyone can use.

So, for example if you have a fairly large intranet, Cluetail can help identify the people in the company who are currently perhaps working in silos but who might actually talk to each other because they have similar interests or they are working on similar ideas.

Another example is our 'Lunch Date' application. So, based on your location and on the social objects that you've shared online, we can recommend to you a person with whom you might want to have lunch today.

Oh, my phone is ringing.

It looks like my lunch date has arrived, so I'll better go and meet her.

Thank you. (...)"

[TRANSCRIPT ENDS]

Seth Godin: "No one cares about you"

(From Seth's Blog: 'Four videos about noise, social and decency')

When I watched the four videos on Seth's Blog yesterday, I didn't immediately grok how important this particular one is. I mean, I re-posted the two clips about blogging and social media because I recognized what he was saying from my own experience.

But "No one cares about you" is actually an eye opener to me. I do get the message now. It explains why press releases and corporate interviews often don't work. A brand talking about itself and how well it performs doesn't excite. It's a much better idea to let others draw those conclusions.

What does excite customers is talking about them and stuff that interests them.

The example Seth gives is very clarifying:

00:58: "(...) If someone's gonna watch a video, they're not gonna watch it because they care about you. They're gonna watch it because they care about me. Me, me, me, me, me, my favorite person me. (...)"

01:15: "(...) If you make a video like the Blendtec guys, the 'Will It Blend?' videos, people will watch it because watching Chuck Norris getting blent in a blender is sort of a hoot. But if you make a video of how your factory is, you know, twelve percent more efficient than it was last year, (yawn), I'm not coming. (...)"

"What matters is: where are the *real* relationships?"

(From Seth's Blog: 'Four videos about noise, social and decency')

In this short video, Seth Godin explains when social networking does or doesn't matter:

01:22: "(...) networking is always important when it's real, and it's always a useless distraction when it's fake (...)"

01:46: "(...) are there people out there whom I would go out of my way for and who would go out of their way for me? That's what you need to keep track of. And the way you get there is by going out of your way for them; and by earning that privilege of one day having that connection be worthwhile. (...)"

Forcing yourself to become part of the conversation

(From Seth's Blog: 'Four videos about noise, social and decency')

Best quote from Seth Godin in this short video on (micro?)blogging, starting at 00:44:

"(...) basically you are doing it for yourself to force yourself to become part of the conversation even if it's just that big (i.e. small - JS). (...)"

Dugg: Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams | YouTube

"(...) Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture. (...)"

(Via Doc Searls)

read more | digg story

Dugg: Who is Who: Interview with David Weinberger | Ulrike Reinhard

Via David Weinberger:

"(...) Ulrike Reinhard, of WhoIsWho, video-interviewed me on our back porch last week. She asked me about the need for serendipity, what an “open” Internet means, the costs of social networks, the new sense of privacy, user-controlled identity systems, Web 3.0, market conversations, categorization and control, Twitter, Obama… (...)"

Serendipity is a fascinating concept. I strongly believe that the way we learn new things and expand our horizons is through serendipity. In order to discover and, if you will, accept something new, this "news" needs to be presented to us in a familiar, trusted, i.e. "old" context.

We hardly ever buy into something entirely unfamiliar. For example, if we don't know the source, we are less prone to trust the news. In conversations, I am more likely to learn something new from people with whom I have, say, 80 percent in common, than from people with whom I have, say, 10 percent in common. If you get my drift...

read more | digg story

Dugg: Reuters' "mojo" experiments with Nokia | Jemima Kiss

"(...) Reuters' journalists are experimenting with the potential of mobile journalism through a project with Nokia's research centre. (...)"

read more | digg story

Dugg: Nokia Nseries PC Suite graduates from Beta Labs | IntoMobile

"(...) The 300+ MB heavy suite is actually a collection of applications (Nokia Lifeblog, Content Copier, Nokia Application Installer, Nokia Multimedia Player, Nokia Music Manager, One Touch Access, PC Sync, Nokia Photos, Nokia Map Loader) that "seamlessly link your Nokia Nseries multimedia device and your PC."

read more | digg story

Dugg: Chris Anderson: 'Free' | Nokia World 2007

(streaming video and downloadable .mp3)

At the Nokia World event in Amsterdam in December 2007, Chris Anderson discussed themes from his upcoming book, 'Free', in which he argues that when the price of production and distribution of (digital) content (and services) approaches zero, you might as well treat it as if it were free, and sell something else.

Open your mind to create new business models around "free", in an economy of abundance.

We are entering a world in which every way that content (and even physical products) can be created, WILL be tried, because it costs next to nothing to do so.

The old scarcities are: time + money. The new scarcities are: time + money + attention + reputation.

When working with Intel, Chris tells, they did a thought experiment. What about, instead of selling hardware and software as 1+1, selling it perhaps as 0+2?

Is Chris suggesting that Nokia should give its devices away for free in order to sell MORE services?
Could and should we move from selling hardware+software as 1+1, towards 0+morethan2?

To put it more urgently: is this the ONLY way to go?

read more | digg story

Observations about Kyte

I've been trying Kyte for less than a week, and I love it because:

1. the ease of use of producing and posting layered multimedia "shows",
2. the channel concept, which ensures that the content can be distributed immediately to multiple, pre-defined destinations, and
3. the immediate ensuing conversation through (multimedia) chat.

I've embedded it on my blog and on my Facebook profile, and I love the fact that there always seem to be people on the other end who apparently feel compelled to converse about the stuff that I've posted.

[UPDATE: I posted the content of this blog entry as a video on my Kyte channel - unfortunately the sound quality is quite horrible.]

I have to admit that I very much look at applications like these from a blogger's point of view. I want to engage in conversation about the things I blog. Blogging is very much about capturing. Whether I do that with text, video, images, flash multimedia, whether on a PC or on-the-go, is of secondary concern. What matters is the capturing and the quality of the conversation.

Seems to me that the scope of the content that you'd want to "socialcast" with Kyte poses somewhat of a challenge. According to Daniel Graf, Kyte is distinctly different from YouTube in that Kyte is not about "broadcasting to the world and trying to get as many viewers as you can", but rather "sharing and conversing about moments that matter".

On one hand, there is content which I'd like to capture and converse about with anyone who's interested. These conversations are intended to be very public. Anything on my public blog falls into that category. So indeed, the idea is to broadcast to the world and try to get as many viewers as I can. Or at least, to reach as many people as possible so as to have the best chances of attracting the most relevant viewers.

On the other hand, there is content which I'd like to converse about with some people, but not with the public at large. If Kyte would offer distributed access, I believe that "socialcasting" could become a more meaningful term. The thing is, during these past few days I've caught myself recording more video material with my N95 that I wouldn't want to share with the world, than stuff that I'd happily put into the public domain.

If we are talking about "moments that matter", I think that many of those moments are somewhat private, or so draft that they are not ready to be shared with the world. I'd love to converse about those captured moments with people I trust. This can only happen with some sort of access control.

Otherwise, the content on Kyte will not be more interesting than the content on YouTube, and the "community" will not be more engaged or relevant than the "community" on YouTube.

Then a point about searchability. Daniel mentioned how Reuters is using Kyte together with some speech-to-text technology, so as to make Kyte's audio content searchable. I think this is a brilliant move. Everyone wants to be able to find back the stuff they capture. If I post video content on my blog, I want that to pop up in a relevant search query a year from now.

So, to summarize: I love Kyte because of its (1) ease of use, (2) channel concept, and (3) immediate interactivity. I see room for improvement through (A) access control and (B) speech-to-text searchability.