links for 2009-05-11

"All in all it was a great day, and we really enjoyed ourselves. The Yahoo! staff really went all out to make us feel welcome, included, and confident from the minute I sent the first email asking to come, until we left the building". Great post from Thayer about taking her nipper to Open Hack Day. Interesting stuff in the comments too...

"Events such as Jeecamp give those of us concerned about finding ways to ensure journalism remain relevant going forward with the chance to learn from others’ successes and, perhaps more importantly, failures. But there’s always a risk that too much introspection and hand-wringing can push us into an ever decreasing spiral of gloom, unable to look up and spot the opportunities opening up all around as the established order is thrown into flux."

Michael Haddon has written several blog posts based on his experience of JEEcamp

Kasper Sørensen with another re-cap of JEEcamp

"Despite the recent increase in companies that use the site, he said, companies here in the UAE are still behind the learning curve due to Twitter having been blocked in the UAE until August 2008. He still strongly criticises the blocking of sites such as Flickr and Orkut, saying that social media is critical for marketing and mass communication, and blocking these sites will only cause the UAE to fall further behind."

@clairey_ross on Frankie Roberto's online I-Spy challenge making you take more notice of your surroundings. I agree - in fact on Friday I got to Birmingham a bit early for JEEcamp so I could have a wander round to I-Spy...

"Yes, it's true that the DiggBar frames your content, its also true that many people don't like it - but this doesn't mean that you should avoid its benefits if you are active on Digg. Also, give Digg a good deal of credit as they have made this least intrusive 'framed bars' as possible. The DiggBar can be turned off at anytime, will never be shown to other users, and is 301'ed to the proper article - something that the popular ow.ly or burnurl can’t claim."

Great post and brilliant final paragraph: "In my next article, I’ll go over how you can test and track each of these positions using Google Analytics. Based on this intelligence you’ll then be able to tweak your links and maximize RSS subscriptions to your blog. Subscribe now so you don’t miss out. :-)"

A guest post on Graywolf's blog from GabGoldenberg with a really interesting analysis of how Google has innovated in the online advertising space and big media hasn't. He argues that APIs and free Analytics tools have let advertisers on Google micro-manage their campaigns, whereas big media has still not effectively tied media spend to actual sales for fear that advertisers will spot the inefficiency in the system.

"The Associated Press news agency reports that hundreds of immigrants live in squalid conditions in the building, amid piles of fetid rubbish and human waste without electricity or running water. Fouad, a 33-year-old Moroccan immigrant living in the building, told AP that he could not understand why the protesters had attacked. 'We didn't do anything. Why do they treat us like this?' he said. 'The police did nothing. Here in Greece, human rights don't exist.'"

I love this. Hiddink on Sunday: "There were also some other incidents which the referee was very gentle about. When you win you should win with modesty, and when you lose you should try not to pick over things". Hiddink four days previously "Conspiracy is a very tough word and you have to be able to prove it. But when you analyse things closely, then I also start thinking... I cannot say if Uefa would not like another all-English final...If you have seen three or four situations waved away, then [the referee] was the worst I have seen. At this moment I'd have to think a lot if I have seen worse. The overall feeling is one of being robbed and one of injustice". Classy act, boys, classy act...