From GreenOptions.com’s Sustainablog, a feature on the government’s drive to get people to trade in their old clunky cars for newer more efficient ones is underway. The post started with an idea from a child who suggested that everybody with old cars trade them in for new hybrids to solve the whole global warming thingy’. Bright idea right, well somebody in Washington thought of that too and the “Cash for Clunkers” program was born. The program is designed to make the world a cleaner place by giving incentives to people who trade in their old inefficient cars for newer cleaner cars that use alternative energy for fuel. The program is beginning to catch on and every family who opts to avail of the program helps mother nature and also gets a new car in the process making the approach a viable one that is good for the earth and the US auto industry as a whole.
On another avenue, TechCrunch tackles the moves of the new FriendFeed which they deem to be too fast, not in the speedy sense but in relation to their parent product FaceBook and Twitter. All three web services just happen to be some of the most popular services being offered on the internet (thank GOD Zucker’s gone) yet they see a common problem reminiscent of the good old days of Microsoft when they brought in technology from a little known firm, integrating it into their own product and then buying out the competitor even before the copyright infringement suits could be filed. they cite the fact that the functionality of all three services tend to be the same giving rise to the fear of them becoming one system in time. The newer version of FriendFeed goes on beta testing today before it hits the mainstream, to be unleashed into the wild that is the social net.
Google by the way gets a low blow from Billy Bragg who is a British Musician who just happens to hate Bebo.com and is now pointing the finger at the poor guys down in googling headquarters for lost profit, well what can we say, that is life in the net. Always new, always unexpected and always mundane (crazy even!)

From the networks, Gawker’s Valleywag tackles the resignation of founding FaceBook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who resigned from the company after a threesome of disastrous corporate decisions. The first nail in his corporate coffin was the revision of the FaceBook TOS debacle which angered so many users they flooded the site with negative publicity and everything in between. It even got the attention of lawmakers who informed them that the move as an utter disregard for their initial statement. The company revised their view of owning everything that was uploaded to their servers after, well, a ton of headaches, calls, email and some bottles of aspirin maybe.
His second blunder was the FaceBook page re-do, which was likened to having your hair done by a mechanic. The page looked uglier than ever and people started to express disgust at the new design prompting the company to do another round of re-makes. Talk about cost cutting and dumb decisions. The last nail in his corporate resume was the utter corporate chaos that was brought on by the kicking-out of CFO Gideon Yu, who by the way is part of the major WEB 2.0 systems YouTube and Yahoo. The move by the company resulted in utter chaos, disagreements on focus and direction of the company as a whole and as a business entity. Zuckerberg remarked that Yu chose his family over the hectic corporate lifestyle with nobody listening (well more of snickering to be exact at the truth behind his words). He is finally out and the company can now re-focus on a re-make of the whole site and business (Hmmmmm…… like President Obama and the Recession ??!!??) to repair the damage that has been done.
The events at FaceBook clearly shows how much impact the decisions of one man can make or break a well-loved company. Maybe now, they can re-focus on getting back their lost following, victims of ill-corporate wisdom that doesn’t quite work on the social internet.

From the Gawker Network, a job they call as one of the most annoying ones so far from the social web, the job which we would gladly coin as the “Twitter Impostor Terminator” or a lawyer who does just as it says, takes down twitter users who are pretending to be celebrities. Well, as if these people need more publicity, it seems the transparency of the social web is still the main detrimental factor which makes the internet dangerous. From sexual predators, spam and impostors, they all use the internet for their dastardly deeds.
Hailed as a joke by most but praised by his clients, the lawyer sends out email and letters to twitter headquarters and the erring twitterers who are using his client’s good name for no good such as fraud and other activities. In effect, this entrepreneurial lawyer creates a whole new field of law that is specifically aimed at these impostors and it is his job to take them off Twitter, one of the fastest growing social media outlets to date. His client lists are mostly people who cannot cope in timely manner to impostors who are using their names for illegal activities. This might just follow the move by the RIAA to halt music piracy and to enforce DRM which has all but collapsed with even iTunes, one of the largest electronic sources of music on the net to begin offering content that is DRM free. The first and only Twitter Lawyer to date (as if people would care) has announced his portfolio and has released a warning to Twitterers out there that they better watch out or they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law if proven guilty.
Such is the amount of opportunity the social internet has created, with everybody trying to find and build a business even on a lowly mobile or 3G enabled device. one of his success stories is the one that had a fake televangelist doing dirty work in the name of the true one for Crystal Cathedral Ministries where he has successfully booted the impostor from Twittering in the name of the good man’s Servant. The expanding reach of the social web has been creating many such issues, like the claim by Face Book that it earned all content uploaded to it’s servers, much to the annoyance and complaint of all the millions of users who threatened to file suits. That was promptly followed by a retraction of the said site rules which were reiterated again and again on the various media forms to be an ill-thought of statement that has now been revoked. Just hope he can get those annoying celebrity blogs (the real ones) off-line for utterly annoying and useless content.

Gawker media, one of the blogosphere’s biggest blog networks has adopted the Atribution-NonCommercial license for all their original content which makes them one of the few networks who allows use of their materials for free. This doesn’t however a free for all fir there are limitations on how, what and where such original content can be used which can be found in their very extensive Legal Page. This maybe the trend for most of the blogosphere’s biggest names for as said in a previous post, policing content is a practice in futility. The practice of plagiarism is quite widespread and it seems the wide expanse of the internet and the many social networks that inter-twine in between have been so much for people to search fpor instances of content copying they simply gave up.
Splashpress on the other hand has put a new face on BlogHerald, which has had a lot of revisions through the many years it has graced the blogosphere. This may be timely for as people love familiarity with most things they do, it does tend to make things boring, seeing the same faces each and every day. Part of the new face of BlogHerald comes with a new theme and layout to refresh those tired eyes and a breath of fresh air. Also from the network, another new blog has been launched, Ceylon Luxury, a land which the blogosphere has failed to reach and wonder in for a long time. Along with the network’s other travel sites, the new one features country specific news regarding the hidden gem that is Sri Lanka, giving it it’s own niche in the blogosphere releasing it’s natural wonders to the world for all to enjoy. So what are you waiting for, check it out and learn about the wonderful culture the Sri Lankan’s have developed, distanced from the rest of the world and true luxury in Ceylon.

From the Gawker network, the ever updated source on information on new media has raised the alarm on the adoption of new media by traditional print publishers. This has become the norm of today’s economically challenged firms, go to the net but many questions have been raised about such a move since the net was born and began to spread its global reach. This would not only be wise, but would allow these traditional print media to maintain their diverse talent pool while they try to find a way of salvaging their other businesses in print. They however sight the should we call lack of sight on the importance of reliability wherein many a story have had to be told, re-told and then edited just because they are getting the news out so fast, that traditional editing and even spelling checking isn’t possible.
The infusion of traditional print in electronic form has plagued the realm of new media making it more muddled than ever before. i mean, new media is already on the rocks with the advent of blogging and twittering which has rattled the realm so much it needs a reality check to separate the factual from fiction. Though new media may be a jumbled mess of everybody who wants to say anything about anybody, it is part of the evolution of the net which was seen as the next big leap for the aging technology that started out as a cold war defense network. Much of the net has information that can be called anything other than factual but that is what the social internet is all about. Getting the masses to control what is in and what is out, where the truth outlives the tons of lies that gets indexed by spiders just as well if anybody foolish enough just happens to want it.
Traditional print however electronic it will be will always be traditional for they rely on good old responsible journalism, the only problem they face is that are they ready for the influx of criticism that we have all gotten used to on the net. They used to be the authority on information with the headlines and printed news deemed as truth, with the internet, they get the information out faster but any inconsistencies are quickly quelled and made apparent. Imagine a newspaper that has already been printed with a million copies and getting each one, changing a misspelling or headline. the speed the internet offers is the bane for traditional print media entering the fray, they’re simply not used to it. They’d better do more work on their publishing skills if they are to continue their ventures into the realm of virtual space, for their sake and ours.

From the Blog herald: The recent issue that involved John Stewart on his unwarranted rap on social media or the new internet is a bit unwarranted for as the post in the Blog Herald says (by : Chris Garett), there are a lot of truths but also misconceptions about the whole social thingy. First, for example blogging, it started out as a medium on the internet where anybody who wanted to write about anything (mostly their pitiful lives and their utter uselessness roles in society), much like newspapers of days past which started out as mere advert pages that were finally congealed into a more compressed form that included advertising as well as some useful stuff to gain the interest of the reader. Get hold of any newspaper (if you can still find one) and what do you see? Headlines, articles, commentary and advertisements, wait a minute, ads. We’re getting warmer! Don’t tell me you haven’t earned a buck from social media(your bosses companies sure have!)
Now head to the couch and turn the TV on to watch a re-run of his performance(John’s), what comes after and in between takes, adverts. Almost alight! I mean we all love a laugh or two from time to time, who doesn’t? At this time in history when people are losing jobs, companies are closing shop and everybody else is saying that life is gonna get worse, a laugh would be nice. All the facts about social media is that it is surely aimed at two of many things, marketing and content. Take away content and you’ll get a glimpse of why blogging has become one of the most prevalent forms of social media, then comes twitter, which took social media to new heights and places on all those tiny devices. There are truly a ton of junk on the new internet, especially from social media sites and applications but all of this stuff are aimed at (ding……ding …..ding) like humanity, the right to expression. Don’t say he doesn’t blog or twitter himself, come on, everybody does. Now whether its for their love life, miserable life, community life, responsible life or whatever purpose they want their lives to become, they have the right to do it just as John has the right to ridicule our art, craft, trade and lives.
More power to you my friend, and may Twitter…. well, Twitter you back! Laughter is still the best medicine.

Follow Up: Hands up John, your show and network have gained thousands of links and thus hits on your episode meaning people are watching you and your network is earning moolah!

Nothing quite interesting on the networks, getting tired about the recession and Madoff along with each and everything Mr. President does(from his choice of soft drink to the blackberry, etc.)and how ahrder life is getting, blahhhh….blah…bla. As expected, the guys finally announced their re-launch of some of their blogs(if not all), Splashpress has announced again and again they would be re-launching their blogs, some of which have stood the test of time and were overdue for extreme makeovers. The network has revamped the sites and are injecting new blood into the ranks for both editors and bloggers. Some are old some are new, the bloggers will once again grace the many blogs that have been left, well should we call it as they have always been, and are in the process of giving them new looks through themes but also re-aiming them to more relevant and bloggerriffic stardom(hopefully).
If you click on this link, you’ll get the whole picture of the what, why and who’s of the happenings in the network that is Splashpress. Some of the blogs were in fact launched last year and have been getting regular postings and reviews from the blogosphere as it takes on the recession and the new presidency of course. Thord Hedengren, the bloggers of all bloggers is on the team, injecting his views and expertise on some of your best blogs as the network aims for excellence in spite of the recession that seems to have everybody on the blogosphere with whatever they want. They also announce the acquisition of the Pod Basket, Blogger Talks and Live Arcade Review along with extreme theme designs that rival some of the best in the world of blogging.

From the blog networks, B5 has announced its launch of Splendicity, a high powered site that is powered by 30 popular blogs catering to beauty, fashion and accessories for those fashionistas out there. B5 being one of the biggest blog networks around has done it again by taking on the lucrative world of high-end fashion. Containing the whole shebang, from tips and tricks, shopping advise, photo and video content. The world of fashion will never be the same again with this addition to the network of blogs that are considered to be the best in the industry. Get the latest from industry leaders and celebrities who make headlines and a whole lot more. Take part in the discussion boards and express your views, share them with friends and get tips from the experts themselves as they answer questions from you.

“We’re thrilled to offer a destination where users can easily navigate a breadth of content that they love while still providing the intimacy and engagement of each individual blog,” said Jeremy Wright, president and chief executive officer of b5media. “Splendicity ties together the exceptional voices in b5media’s network of bloggers, creating a unique brand that beauty bloggers and blog readers can identify with.”

With many resources to offer fashionistas the world over, they boast some heavyweight bloggers from the fashion industry, such as Aly Wansky, Beth Bender, Tracy Hopkins and many more. Get the latest news of what’s in and what’s not of the fashion world. making it the place to be for the best fashion news ever. Get make-up tips from artists who do celebrities for the Grammy’s, Vibe and Entertainment Weekly for that look your celebs sport right there for your enjoyment. These experts have been writing for some of the best publications around including news network leaders and have been so part of the industry for a long time. So for the what’s in and hot in the fashion wolrd, check out Spelendicity.com, where the experts are and get that celebrity look you’ve always wanted.

Major blogosphere player b5media is set to redesign the overall look of its network sometime next year. According to The Blog Herald, b5media will use one of the Revolution themes as the base theme across its roster of sites.

BH’s Thord Hedengren chips in his thoughts:

While I have nothing against the Revolution Streamline theme, which will be the basis of the new design, I’m a bit surprised to see b5media going with something that is a premium theme available for all. Or is it? I can’t seem to find it on the Revolution Two website, so maybe b5media bought the rights to it? I’ve contacted Brian and Jeremy for a comment on this.

Read the discussion here.

The Beauty Blog Network is holding an Open Invite program for bloggers desiring inclusion to their stable of blogs. Quoting their announcement:

At The Beauty Blog Network, we pride ourselves in selecting and having members that are truly the best. The Beauty Blog Network is not a directory of beauty blogs. It’s a by invite only selection of the best beauty blogs out there. What makes a beauty blog catch our attention? Quality. Quality in the writing, the information, and the intent of the blog. I can tell by reading a blog if they are passionate about it. I can tell about their commitment, in how much they put into it. Videos, tutorials, images, step by step, reviews… I’m sure you can to.

Nominate your blogs/friends’ blogs in their comments section.