Monthly Archives: October 2010

What Does It Mean To Be “Engaged”?

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

I’m not talking about the first step towards getting married!

Online marketing buzz words include “social” and “engagement.” Let’s set “social” aside for another day.

What does it look like when a customer is “engaged” with a brand, with a web site, with Twitter or Facebook? Who are “engaged” customers and why are they important to an organization? Why might their web site visits be more valuable — in the traditional, monetary sense of the word — than less “engaged” customers?

What the heck does it mean to be engaged?

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Looking Back To Look Forward: Scientific American, 1991

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Almost 20 years ago, Scientific American dedicated a special issue to Communications, Computers and Networks. The September issue of Current Cities, a technology watch e-newsletter edited by David F.W. Robison at the University of California Berkeley, advised readers to buy a copy:

Scientific American Special Issue on Communications, Computers and Networks 265(3) (September 1991). If you purchase a single issue of a magazine this year, this should be it. Filled with eleven articles by some of the biggest names in computer networking, this issue covers all bases and includes suggestions for further readings on the issues.

In addition, both Elliott Parker and Steve Cisler recommended the issue to members of the Public Access Computer Users Forum; and Willard McCarty highlighted three articles for the Humanist discussion group. EFF gave a copy to all of its members.

I’ve tracked down copies or abstracts of all but one of the articles.

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On Internet Censorship: ACTA and COICA

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

Here’s the money quote:

For much of the 20th century, oligarchs have made bucket-loads of money by being able to monetize culture through increasingly-generous copyright protections (every time Mickey Mouse was about to lose his, critics contend). They will not give up those cash cows quietly, even as digital technologies render their opposition moot, in the long run.

Also posted at Newsvine.

7 Blogs That Digital Media Thinkers Should Be Reading

Posted on by Kathy E. Gill

We’re all pressed for time, with demands of work, friends and family; and some of us have the additional pressure of school. Think of this as a cheat sheet of blogs that will help you “think different” about the world of digital media. You won’t find the usual suspects (TechCrunch, Mashable, ReadWriteWeb, etc) and I don’t consider this a “best of” kinda post. Instead, it’s a reach-out-beyond your current thinking set of resources.
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