Loviisa a year ago

Posted via email from Helge V. Keitel's posterous

Loviisa a year ago

Posted via email from Helge V. Keitel's posterous

Loviisa a year ago

Posted via email from Helge V. Keitel's posterous

Blogs are a global revolution

Guess what, I blogged about this Monday, June 27, 2005. That's nearly three years ago. The Finnish printed media is writing more articles about social media, blogging and citizen journalism. This is a small country and we represent a small language group. Finland has about 14 000 bloggers.

Blogs are a global revolution with a previously undreamt of audience reach. The popularity of blogs, or web diaries, has boomed in the past year. About a quarter of US internet users say they read them.

Helge 20.3.2008: Finnish blogs aren't reaching big audiences. I do blog in English and Swedish as well but that means I'll be splitting my readerships.

To put that into perspective, the number of people who read blogs is almost half the size of the entire US talk-radio audience and about a quarter the number of those who ready daily papers. And that's just the US.

Helge 20.3.2008: I've no idea about the total readership for Finnish blogs.

During the Iraq war, many people around the world who were tuning in to updates from reporters on the frontlines were also reading daily blogs from a local calling himself Salaam Pax, writing during the assault on Baghdad.

• These blogs by the Iraqi architecture student provided an insider's account into what was happening on the ground, and an interesting counterpoint to the official dispatches.
  
  
• At its best, a blog is a form of personal journalism that opens the public up to a whole new role in the news business

Humans crave community, the sense of belonging that comes from associating with others. Online blogs and podcasting have allowed people to create and belong to communities around the world. But the development also raises the interesting question of who has a right to the microphone of public opinion.

Helge 20.3.2008: Social Media, Blogs, Jaiku and IRC made an impact during the Jokela School shooting. It looks like bad news and catastrophe information is traveling faster in the new media.

Blog audiences are wide and diverse, interested in everything from rock music to religion. Blogs tend to consist of short entries posted on a whim, and recently they have have been joined by those created using a mobile phone (moblogs), and those with video (vlogs) and audio (podcasting).

Helge 20.3.2008: The Finnish blogging audience is covering fashion, knitting, gossip and individual storytelling. The future of blogging in a small country is not so much in "how many readers" a blog has but how well the bloggers are networking and how they are using the blogs and microblogs as interconnectivity toolset.

Being one of the little people (figuratively speaking)

Helge: Learned about Being one of the little people (figuratively speaking) today from Twitter. Added her (saranicole) as a friend today.

Being one of the little people (figuratively speaking): "Utterly crazy month since I posted last. PodCamp Boston was a revelation to this newbie (I don’t feel as much a newbie anymore) as I now ‘get it’ about the power of networking via all these different vehicles.

Helge: I've been podcasting occasionally but would need to re-engineer and re-start podcasting to give a voice to my face.

How I would sum it up (and I will) is that various people I know can be found on various social media web hang-outs (Second Life, Myspace, Twitter).

Helge: I use Twitter but rarely MySpace and didn't have time to start with second life yet.

So the first benefit is if I regularly visit and update on these websites, my friends will know what’s going on with me. I like my friends, so this is a good thing. The other benefit is the whole “web-presence” aspect.

Helge: Web-presence...

I can increase my visibility to people who are web- and tech-savvy through regular posting of meaty content. It’s part of the whole “personal branding” challenge (notice use of buzz words - picked them up at PodCamp) of choosing a public face and spreading it around.

Helge: Personal branding, good point!

So, what do I have to offer? Once I’ve attracted people’s attention via the social media network, why should they stick around? My personal brand is that I’m eager to learn new things and develop as a person.

Helge: Learning by doing. Internet, the blogosphere and Social Media are great learning platforms and environments. Yes, I agree.

I see my work and myself as springing from the same source, and both help each other to grow. It doesn’t hurt that all these social media sites are also fun."

Helge: Fun.

Unified Communication

Announcing A VoiceCon Webinar: UC: Myth vs. Reality
	Date: November 14, 2007 Time: 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET Duration: 60 minutes Sponsored by

Unified Communications (UC) has tremendous potential to alter the IP Telephony/convergence market, but there's still confusion over what UC really is, and whether it's ready for prime time. While it may take us several years to realize the full vision of Unified Communications, elements of UC are being implemented today, and enterprises are starting to build a foundation of unified messaging and other UC components that will represent the first steps toward complete UC implementation.

Helge: Unified communication, convergence, unified messaging...

In this 60-minute Web cast, a leading industry analyst and a subject matter expert from a top UC technology provider will help you understand where UC is today and where it's headed, and they'll offer their vision for how you get from here to there. They'll also offer a reality check that will help you separate UC hype from the market's real status today.

Helge: What does it mean?

Our speakers will also respond to your questions and seek your opinions via online polls and comments throughout the session.

Helge: Interactive, good point, we can talk.

You'll leave the Webinar with a clearer idea of what's real about UC today, what's still in the future, and how you can create a roadmap for your enterprise's UC evolution.

Helge: Roadmap, how to use and to apply

The webinar is presented by VoiceCon—the people who bring you the industry's leading IP Telephony/UC/convergence events. The VoiceCon Webinar series presents the same kind of objective, technically deep, reliable information that our events are known for, and brings them to your desktop so you can participate without having to leave the office.

Helge: First time I learn about this company. Should I register? What about you?

This Web-based seminar is offered free of charge. Register here.

Moderator: Eric Krapf, Co-Chair, VoiceCon; Editor, Business Communications Review

Presenters: Irwin Lazar, Principal Analyst & Program Director, Collaboration & Convergence, Nemertes Research

Hardy Myers, President and CEO, Applied Voice and Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST)

We look forward to sharing the hour with you.

Eric Krapf
Program Co-Chair
VoiceCon

Helge: Did you think about having Rich Media content on Huliq?

Utterz - About Us

Utterz is a new service. I got the information through Facebook. People to people communication is spreading the word about new start-ups and service. I never heard about Utterz before

Dayngr Zone (Miami, FL) wrote on my Facebook

at 9:11am | Hello! I am heading to bed now 3 AM est. I hope all is well your way as it is here. We're doing well on the campaign. Thanks again for blogging it! We've raised about $385 online to help ship the holiday cards to the troops. Tomorrow (or later today rather) I will be back at work and productive. Talk to you then! Oh, check out Utterz.com too! I added it to my profile so now you can hear me AND read me. It would be great to hear you too! =)

What is Utterz?

Utterz is the first way you can instantly blog your experiences, thoughts and ideas, anywhere, using all the capabilities of your mobile phone. Utterz mashes together the voice, video, pictures, and text you call or send in and creates an 'Utter' that can immediately update your existing web pages on sites like Blogger, Facebook, LiveJournal, MySpace and more. [See FAQ how do I grab a widget, how do I use auto-posting and how do I embed my Utter?]

Helge: This means, I've to start podcasting. I was enthusiastic about podcasting for some times, but I've been too busy with my channel strategy. Promise, I'll get into it. I need to get a voice on the Internet.

Utterz is new for me. What do they say? Need to take a look. Maybe I should start using this service as well. I'll write about my experiences.

About Utterz!

We herd that you wanted to know a little about us, so take a moment to read up and meat us. If you ever want to chew the cud, email us any time!

Bessie (bessie@utterz.com) is the creative force behind Utterz and as an experienced product developer, she is outstanding in her field. She was also the inspiration behind Utterz – an already brisk Monday morning in the dairy, the new farmer’s frosty hands sent shivers through her sore, bloated udders. It was inhumane! Bessie being the leader she is, wanted to warn the herd before any more faced the same fate. Her computer was back in the stable with the rest of them but she remembered her cell! Bessie struggled to text her friends, but fat hoofed the message again and instead of “watch out – cold hands on the farmer” she sent out “LKJF akjdkjo djjal ekjafd.” It was an uncomfortable night for all, and as she stood awake, she thought “there must be a better way.” And so, Utterz was birthed.

Helge: I can see some great storytelling here. This is human. Humanization of mobile serivces isn't a bad idea after all.

Carl, Bessie’s husband, was roped into helping her with Utterz from the very beginning. He left a lucrative career as a rodeo bull to help Bessie get the business off the ground. Before Utterz, Carl had never cut a line of code in his life – in fact, he spent most of his life trying to avoid BEING a cut. You can email him at carl@utterz.com.

Helge: Radio man gets into the coded world.

Here’s our lead web developer, Tommy – everyone calls him “T-bone.” Watch out though, he tends toward the controversial. Last holiday party, he brought beef dip. He wears a brand on each cheek and is rumored to sport a nose ring on weekends. He checks email at t-bone@utterz.com.

Helge: Developer personality.

Bob (bob@utterz.com) just joined the herd. He was the cream of his class at University of Wisconsin and is still an active member in BALI (Bovines Against Lactose Intolerance). Needless to say, T-bone’s Lactaid pills lying around the office kitchen have caused a bit of tension. If anyone knows a good shrink, we’d appreciate the referral! A cow in a cubicle is bad enough without all the stress…

Helge: New kid on the block.

Matthew – we call him “Mad Cow” – works the night shift (madcow@utterz.com). Matthew is an interesting character with a sick sense of humor. Let’s just say, be careful where you step in the morning around Matt (sorry, Matthew’s) cubicle…sicko.

Helge: Aren't we all a little mad?

More information to be found here: Utterz - About Us