BUY LEVITRA NO PRESCRIPTION

[caption id="attachment_1110" align="alignright" width="300" caption="We can predict the future. "][/caption] Image: br3akthru / FreeDigitalPhotos.net This blog contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding business strategies, market potential, future financial and operational performance and other matters. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the transaction and other statements identified by words such as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "expect," "might," "dunno," "maybe," "guess," "like, who knows, man?" or similar expressions. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, warped, hopelessly blinkered and woolly as they may be, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances, including, but not limited to, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to any transaction and the parties' performance of their obligations under the agreements; changes in our plans, strategies and intentions; the competitiveness and quality of our products and services; our ability to retain, hire and develop key employees; shit happening; the intensity of competition; just dropping the ball, or blabbing during a big drunk in Vegas and those big guys in the morning saying they had photos and video but god that girl had such a sweet ass. Any forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein, due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological, strategic and/or regulatory factors, as well as factors affecting our operations and businesses. Like being total pricks who've been insulated in some dumb private school and business-school make-believe cosy bubble since we were about 10, and who don't know our ass from our elbow in the real world of business and commerce, and have the MBAs to prove it. More detailed information about these factors as they relate to us may be found in the section entitled "Shit and the Fan" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They never read that stuff anyway. We are under no obligation to, and expressly disclaim any obligation to, update or alter the forward-looking statements contained in this blog, whether as a result of new information, future events, the bloody obvious, alien invasion, or otherwise. And hey, we don't have a f**king crystal ball, you know. However, we might just change it later to make it look like we were smarter earlier, because it's pretty easy to do that in WordPress. Inspired by an AOL press release.

---

Enjoyed this? You'll enjoy Age of Conversation 3, and so will charity: water who receive all proceeds from sales of this book.

Although you can still find me there, I've deactivated my account more than once, and there are still a number of reasons that I'm not very fond of Facebook. I thought it worthwhile recording the five main factors that make me say I really don't like Facebook very much.... 1. I still don't like your terms, Facebook. Here's a story I wrote in early 2009, about why I was suspending my facebook account after they proposed a change in their terms of service. The company has failed repeatedly to win my confidence. I don't want them to own my stuff - I am happy to let them use it to share with my network, but not to own it, sell it, hustle it, rehash it and generally just take things. By the way, that's my photo of Mark Zuckerberg - the winning caption was “Yeah, we change our TOS so much we are now known as AboutFace-book.” Here's a nice quote:- -

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

You do know what irrevocable and perpetual mean, don't you, Mr Faust? 2. I know you're going to sell what you learn about me to people who want to sell me stuff. The fact that I like Simple Minds, live in Edinburgh and have read 'The Black Swan' is something I mention in the context of facebook because I'm intending those facts to be of interest to my friends and associates on facebook. But you're going to take all that kind of information, and use it to place 'appropriate and relevant' content in front of me. Like 'Hurry! offer ends Thurs' for Sky TV. And the more I tell, the more you sell.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Online social-networking service Facebook Inc., which recently boasted that it had topped 500 million users, will pull in an estimated $1.28 billion in advertising spending this year, according to a report published Thursday by eMarker.

What's in it for me then? Where's the reciprocity, the give-and-take? Where are my rewards? 3. I don't think you take important things seriously. Earlier this year, a few people raised concerns about protecting young people using facebook, after the jailing of a sex offender who kidnapped, raped and murdered a 17-year old girl he befriended on Facebook by posing as a teenage boy. They suggested a 'panic button' be made available, so that an operative online could be alerted when someone felt unsafe, or threatened by the behaviour of another facebook user. The initial response was (18 March 2010, BBC): 'Facebook rules out 'panic button' - then (13 April 2010) 'Police back Facebook panic call' and then finally, after UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre Ceop, the government law enforcement agency tasked with tracking down sex offenders, spent months negotiating with Facebook, we finally saw (12 July 2010) 'Facebook unveils child safety 'panic button''. Let's see. March April May June July. And only with a government agency leaning on you. Outstanding. 4. You're never going to give me anything useful. You're always full of crap. I don't want to poke people. Or throw sheep at them. Or run a toy farm. Or have them tell me about great real estate companies I can 'friend' or 'like'. And I seem to get a lot of this kind of stuff which I can't say is hugely relevant to me: -

"Good day! Amongst all the personal & business life transformation events I've ever attended in the past two decades, I'm about to attend the most powerful one... "

5. Next time you get hacked, and I mean hacked properly, you'll be out of business. I'm amazed to see I'm linking to a Daily Mail article - but here we have it: - " | Mail Online"">Cyber-criminals steal identity of one of the world's top security chiefs using Facebook" And remember the small matter of those 100 million personal details made availabel on Pirate Bay?

Facebook, the social networking site and its founder Mark Zuckerberg are under pressure over its’ privacy settings after an online security consultant Ron Bowles who allegedly used a simple code to collect data from the site, published the information on the worlds’ largest file sharing website Pirate Bay.

But of course it's safe to chat with friends in Facebook privately, so no need to worry there. Oops, perhaps not: -

"A glitch in Facebook security may allow your friends to view your chat history and pending friend requests without your knowledge or permission. This should make you think twice about the juicy gossip you choose to share over the "secure" Facebook messenger."

In conclusion, here's my favourite page on facebook.

---

David Petherick is The Digital Biographer, a social media commentator, and can be found on Twitter @clarocada

Announcing the publication of: Age of Conversation 3.  [caption id="" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Buy Age of Conversation 3 today"][/caption]

• Buy the Hardcover at Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Conversation-Its-Time-Busy/dp/098247394X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0
• Buy the Paperback at Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Conversation-Its-Time-Busy/dp/0982473974/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
• Buy the ebook for your Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Age-Conversation-Time-Busy-ebook/dp/B003KGBMWQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1272982016&sr=8-2

Almost three years ago, an online conversation between two marketing pros, an American and an Australian, evolved into a collaborative writing effort by more than 100 bloggers from nine countries, and was aptly titled The Age of Conversation. Fast forward to today and the abstract experiment is now a concrete treatise on the state of social media and marketing best practices as a whole. With Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton still firmly at the helm, the third book in the Age of Conversation series has become a veritable “who’s who” of the world’s leading marketing bloggers. Age of Conversation 3 (202 pages; hardcover; paperback; Kindle; ePub) was published by new digital publishing company Channel V Books (www.ChannelVBooks.com), and is now available through all major online retailers, as a Kindle e-book, and will soon be available as an ePub for other digital readers. Age of Conversation 3 captures the distinct shift from social media as a hypothetical consumer loyalty tool, as it was considered only a little more than a year ago, to its current state as a staple in the modern marketing toolbox. Although the book covers more than just social media, the topic is ubiquitous among the book’s 10 sections: At the Coalface; Identities, Friends and Trusted Strangers; Conversational Branding; Measurement; Corporate Conversations; In the Boardroom; Innovation and Execution; Influence; Getting to Work; and Pitching Social Media. “We have seen an incredible shift in the role of social media over the past three years. It has moved from an outlier in the marketing mix to one of the strategic pillars of any corporate marketing or branding exercise,” said Drew McLellan. “And it doesn’t end there,” adds Gavin Heaton. “As the many authors of this new book explain, the focus may be on conversation, but you can’t participate in a conversation from the sidelines. It’s all about participation. And this book provides you with 171 lessons in this new art”. The genesis for the series itself has all the makings of a thrilling read: regular correspondence between people around the world; a proactive collaboration between 15 countries; and two marketing professionals who have never met each other face to face, scrambling to learn how to publish a book from the ground up. It all started when McLellan blogged about a similar collaborative book effort and Heaton wrote to him to suggest they get a few fellow bloggers to produce a marketing book in the same vain. Three emails later, and they had named the book and set what they thought would be an impossible goal: 100 bloggers. Within seven days they had commitments from 103. Back then, the marketing industry was abuzz about how citizen marketers were changing the landscape, whereas the second two editions have revolved primarily around the growing field of social media and how its methodologies have affected marketing as a whole. What all three books have in common is that they each capture a uniquely global vantage point. These are the 10 sections in the book: -

1. At the Coalface
2. Identities, Friends and Trusted Strangers
3. Conversational Branding
4. Measurement (You'll find my contribution here)
5. Corporate Conversations
6. In the Boardroom
7. Innovation and Execution
8. Influence
9. Getting to Work
10. Pitching Social Media.

The first Age of Conversation raised nearly $15,000 for Variety, the international children’s charity, and the Age of Conversation 2 raised a further $10,000 for Variety. This year’s proceeds will be donated to an international children’s charity of the contributing authors’ choosing. Please help to make sure we raise something extra this time around...

• Buy the Hardcover at Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Conversation-Its-Time-Busy/dp/098247394X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0
• Buy the Paperback at Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Conversation-Its-Time-Busy/dp/0982473974/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
• Buy the ebook for your Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Age-Conversation-Time-Busy-ebook/dp/B003KGBMWQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1272982016&sr=8-2

  [ This article was originally published at Digital Biographer on 5th September 2008, and was syndicated to The Next Web on 6th September, 2008 ] © Copyright 2008 Clarocada Ltd. It has been updated a little for November 2009 where marked in green. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 UK: Scotland License. © Copyright 2009 Clarocada Ltd. 

"Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other large organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot masturbate" - Dave Barry

I don't do meetings any more. I used to do a lot of meetings. But not any more. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Follow @clarocada on Twitter"][/caption] The change from meeting to tweeting - where a series of brief exchanges (each a maximum of 140 characters) can make up the content - has been brought about by a variety of factors over the past 15 years or so - but here are the ten factors that I think are critical.

1. IN GOOGLE TIME I no longer have a phone book, business directories or yellow pages. Those were essential when I started my first corporation in 1993. But now, I use Google. On my Nokia N86, as I move.  As a result, I have less patience for slow ways of doing things - I am impatient. I demand speed, efficiency, and immediate results.
2. HOLA FONEROS I have a laptop computer and a mobile phone, I can work from a cafe terrace in Banyalbufar just as easily as anywhere else. As a result, I don't have the need to restrict myself to doing business with those who are within easy reach of where I live or work most of the time.
3. HOME OFFICE DRESS CODE I don't need to have an office in the city centre to get my work done - I can do it from my home office. As a result, I don't need to spend time travelling, and so I use that saved time productively. I also find wearing a suit in my own kitchen a bit pointless, so feel there has to be a very good reason to dress up to go somewhere - and my carbon footprint's lower.
4. MY ONLINE VISIBILITY Whereas I used to have to push information out to people in brochures, newspaper interviews, in meetings, at trade shows, I now have online profiles at LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook, Hyves, Flickr, Friendfeed, MyBloglog etc, and I have blogs and web sites that I can update easily in seconds. As a result, I don't have to spend so much time introducing myself, and explaining what it is that I, or any of my enterprises provide - people find out about me before they meet me, or get to know me through following my activities online. People can meet me at airports because my photo is online. They can also decide whether they need to waste their time meeting me. People ask me to speak at events without having ever met me or spoken to me.
5. I HATE COFFEE I don't really like coffee any more. But I still drink it. And I especially never liked paying £3 for a cup of it unless it was refilled all day and came with free wi-fi. As a result, when someone says - let's have a chat over a coffee, I say "No. Let's save the time and money, and spend five minutes now working out if we need to meet - and if so, what items on the agenda we can dispense with before we need to have a meeting".
6. MEETINGS ARE GETTING SHORTER I arranged a meeting in London (yes, I do still sometimes meet people) with guys coming from Amsterdam and from the USA without ever using a phone - and although we'd not met before, we have already shared dozens of pieces of information that made the business of the meeting last about ten minutes - and then we ordered some food and drinks. We then talked about other interesting stuff and new possibilities - not just 'the business we need to discuss'.
7. CUT THE CHIT-CHAT I can get to know people online by following their updates - or by looking at what they've said, or who they've been talking with, or who's been talking about them - and so with this background, a lot of 'chit-chat' becomes unnecessary. As a result, I can filter out people, or filter them in. I still enjoy the random, however, - I had two great ideas on the bus this morning, just following my twitter stream and listening to music.
8. YOU CAN DO THIS TOO You are reading this blog. You can send me emails, you can send me stuff without a courier, you can clarify things in Skitch, you can speak on Skype for free, you can send an instant message or a twitter. But you can do this as suits your agenda - and not be dragged into it by another party with an unknown agenda who wants 100% of your attention - NOW.
9. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU I can now have customers who I never meet. That used to be very difficult. But now, I can see people, talk to them in real time, swap messages and files, send them sound files and presentations, have a video-conference with them... whether they are half a world away or live around the corner.
10. LIFE'S TOO SHORT A friend of mine died suddenly this year. David was 42. He did not suffer fools gladly, and could summarise biblical volumes of information in a pithy, witty phrase. But he ran out of time. We all will. Mr Williamson, I'm thinking of you each day when I open my eyes, pull my first waking breath, and smile.

"I prefer email and tweets and other online communications over telephone and face to face meetings because it allows me to manage my own time. When I'm meeting face to face the other person will automatically assume they have an hour of my time, which seems to be the standard meeting length, and will take all of that time to talk TO me. In an email I might grasp their concept within 2 minutes and be ready with a reply. Other times I need to think about their message overnight. All of this is impossible in face to face meetings where an immediate reaction and 100% dedication is demanded."

- Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten

So if you want to have a meeting with me here's how to start the conversation:- Let's tweet. But what about you - what's changed the way you handle meetings over the past few years? Please, don't tell me you've not changed things, or let other people push your time around. Tell me it's not so. Life's too short. I'll be working at http://tweeting.me.uk from next month.

UK based startup Huddle.net announced today that Hewlett-Packard (HP) will include the Huddle collaboration application on commercial PCs, laptops and netbooks globally. “Teaming up with the world’s largest technology company is yet another validation of Huddle as a principal player in the collaboration market,” said Alastair Mitchell, co-founder and CEO, Huddle.net. “With Huddle, HP customers gain access to the enterprise-level collaboration tools at the SMB prices that deliver competitive advantage and increase business efficiency.” Huddle is debuting within HP Connect Solutions, a new desktop collection of HP and partner software aiming to help small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in their day-to-day activities. Huddle is one of only two third-party applications available on Connect Solutions, alongside Symantec’s Norton Online Backup. HP customers will benefit from exclusive Huddle offers via Connect Solutions, as well as the recently relaunched HP Access web site. HP Access offers special promotions to Small to Medium Businesses, supporting them throughout their ‘life events’ from starting a business through generating revenue to increasing productivity. In addition, as part of a phased rollout, Huddle will be available through the HP Advisor Dock, a customizable, desktop bar that helps users to discover HP and partner software on first boot of their machine. Through the Advisor Dock, HP customers will access online offers and navigate through key applications and services. The collaboration with HP is the last on Huddle’s list of global deals. In 2009, Huddle signed up the world’s largest conferencing provider InterCall and launched its application across key social networks including LinkedIn, Ning and XING.

Image courtesy of ITV-F1. Good timing, Sir Richard! Well done to the 4B's, their team, and their families and friends: Branson, Button, Barrichello and Brawn. More at http://brawngp.com.

Seven dollars (USD $7) is the price you need to pay to free your iPhone without apparently “jailbreaking” it. This is the price of software that will allow you to download iPhone apps on your computer, and transfer them to your device with an iTunes-like interface, without pushing you into deep geek territory. This is the exciting claim that comes with Swiss developer Ripdev’s release of InstallerApp and it seems likely to be a huge hit. It's a Mac app (but coming soon for Windows) with “Pusher” software, that RipDev says can install Installer.app on your iPhone without “jailbreaking” it, so you can use Apple’s approved AppStore, alongside InstallerApp simultaneously. The app supports Cydia, a popular installer for jailbroken iPhones, but does so, according to Ripdev, without making a mess of your iPhone’s file system or replacing any system libraries, as Cydia does, and you need Intel processor and OS X 10.5 Leopard or above. InstallerApp supports first generation iPhone and iPhone 3G, but not iPod touch as yet. One $7 license lets you sync up to three iPhones and gives you access to free updates and email tech support for one year, and Ripdev even promises to support iPhone 3.0 shortly after the new software is released and jailbroken. >> Check out InstallerApp now.

You Are Not Your Audience by Douglas Karr - marketingtechblog.com

“As a result, many businesses are classified this way but operate quite the opposite... the data lied, and I did not do my due diligence to learn about my audience. The target we used focused on women-owned businesses ... with women no where to be found. We (a team of men) sent our direct mail piece to men.”

In a chapter entitled 'You Are Not Your Audience' Douglas reminds us that you need to talk to your audience directly to avoid marketing tragedies. >> Read the full story from Douglas Karr and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today... David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book 'Age of Conversation 2'. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence. All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

Marketing is in the Eye of the Beholder by Corentin Monot - organic-frog.com

“Another reason why people are skeptical and even reluctant about conversational marketing is the fear of the new. Few people actually possess a genuine entrepreneurial mind, (and) we all know that the successful brands and businesses are those that have a point of view and are ready to defend it. The rest, which is the vast majority, are copying and pasting empty words for their vision values and purpose documents.”

In a chapter entitled 'Marketing is in the Eye of the Beholder' Corentin reminds those who understand conversational marketing have a role to educate beyond a group of like-minded peers. We need to include the C-level, the boardroom and the mail clerks in our conversations. >> Read the full story from Corentin Monot and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today... David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book 'Age of Conversation 2'. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence. All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

Don’t Be a Non-action Hero by Bill Gammell - ubereye.wordpress.com

“You’ve heard of great action heroes like Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. But have you ever heard of a “non-action hero”? A non-action hero doesn’t save the passengers of a train bound for certain doom because some didn’t follow his strict “wearing clean underwear in case of an accident” policy (so your mother was right after all!).”

In a chapter entitled 'Don’t Be a Non-action Hero' Bill Gammell outlines three things you need to be a hero in business, and to defeat the evil status quo: —

1. Core purpose
2. Super powers
3. Action

>> Read the full story from Bill Gammell and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today... David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book 'Age of Conversation 2'. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence. All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

Social Media, Social Structures, and the Paradox of Large by Steve Roesler - www.allthingsworkplace.com

“Our online communities tout authenticity, pull vs. push marketing, and flow. At the same time, blogs, tweets, and café conversation openly criticize the corporate community for not embracing social media and its technology — a “push” kind of commentary. How many customers ever embraced our product or service as a result of hearing us tell them how ignorant they are?”

In a chapter entitled 'Social Media, Social Structures, and the Paradox of Large' Steve points out that suggesting they are ignorant, and need to change to people with mortgages, car payments, and college tuition is best done in a constructive, helpful manner. >> Read the full story from Steve Roesler and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today... David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book 'Age of Conversation 2'. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence. All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

I rest my case. I've still not reactivated my facebook account, because I'm waiting to see what the new terms are before I take any action. Facebook have lost my trust, you see. But at least they are now using Plain English. Here's what I wrote about this earlier.

We Talk Too Much by Brett Macfarlane - www.brettmacfarlane.typepad.com

“This evolution is what’s so exciting today. We have so many amazing new media possibilities enabled by new technology while old media has stepped up their game big time. Have you looked at the quality of design in the magazine rack lately? It’s outstanding. Or the transmedia manifestations of TV shows like Lost or Heroes? Phenomenal!”

In a chapter entitled 'We Talk Too Much' Brett Macfarlane points out that old and new media should stop worrying about who's more right, and to start solving problems, those who inhabit the 'islands of expertise' need to start throwing up some bridges. >> Read the full story from Brett Macfarlane and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today... David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book 'Age of Conversation 2'. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence. All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

Why People Don’t Get It — the Value Exchange by Phil Lewis - www.brandelectioneering.com/blog

“Brands have had it their way since advertising was invented; they’ve controlled their image, messaging and exposure to consumers. They’ve utilised multiple one-way channels to dictate their own value, and even suggested what consumers should say and think — until new media empowered the consumer with a new voice. Any marketer thinking they automatically know what their consumer wants is just missing the point. Consumers have empowered themselves and they’re voting whether you get it or not.”

In a chapter entitled 'Why People Don’t Get It — the Value Exchange' Phil reminds us that consumers decide what is valuable, and any brand has to engage with consumers in a new way to offer them any value. >> Read the full story from Phil Lewis and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today... David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book 'Age of Conversation 2'. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence. All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.