Click. Connect. Communicate.

Caveat Emptor 2.0 - Are new online banking services a security risk?

A CCC.com Blog SPECIAL REPORT

by Jimmy Marks (with special thanks to Rob Banker)

I'm a fan of Mint, myself. Not mint as in gum or green tea - Mint.com, a site to help people like me figure out where the heck my money's going. I like it, I like the info, I like the "Web 2.0 feel" of it all. I'm not the only one - Time magazine online voted it one of its top websites of 2008 and people are jumping on every day to get the most of their money and get advice at their fingertips. That in mind, I was interested to read this article on CUNA News Now about banking in the world of Web 2.0.

Wait...what do you MEAN, what's Web 2.0? I thought we'd been talking about this in earlier posts. Since I'm too lazy to bother giving out a quiz on this, I'll just let Wikipedia do it for me.

How do you start using Web 2.0? Can you click on the comments section below the post and leave your thoughts about our story? Then you've just used Web 2.0. Congratulations.

Now, back to the action.

Why I Read Blogs --or-- There Goes Three Hours I'll Never Get Back

Rob Banker talks about the right way to read a blog.

At this very moment, I subscribe to 57 blogs. I'll explain in a bit what it means to subscribe to a blog. I will not, however, at any point attempt to explain what a blog is. First, it's called Wikipedia -- use it. Second, an attempted definitive definition of blogging would be total flame-bait. Although, that might solve the readership issue, but I'd prefer to have a reputation for accurate analysis.

So, 57 blogs. I don't know if that's a large number or not amongst the blogerati. But I clear my list of unread posts almost every day (I'm a little behind because of travel last week). Why? It goes back to the Zero Inbox-thing (token Merlin Mann reference). My blog reading list is as important to me as my email Inbox. Granted some of the content is just for fun (see www.xkcd.com), but blogs are one of my main sources of news -- either job related or the world in general.

Explaining Social Media (with a little help from...well, social media)

Ron Daly is working to make social networking easy to understand.

When in my travels, I get asked my share of questions about the internet as a business tool. One question that comes up over and over is "what is Web 2.0?" It's a good question. If there's a "2.0", where'd "1.0" go? What's the difference?

Hopefully, I can clear most of that up for you in the next couple of posts or so. First, Social Networking. Facebook, MySpace and YouTube have all been discussed recently. This blog is part of that equation, as well. But how do you talk about social networking and media and make it make sense? Thankfully, CommonCraft put together a little something on social media that, I think, puts it quite nicely.

So, without further ado - ice cream.

Follow-Up: I told ya so. (the sequel to "Face to Facebook")

I'm not one to gloat. Heck, most days I've got nothing to gloat about anyway, but I thought this was worth the time it took to pipe up.

A follow-up article in eMarketershows further evidence that most folks - even the young, who dominate the Social Networking field - prefer e-mail to get things done. There's also a good link at the bottom that points one to a story about eMarketing in the current economic slump. Don't miss out!

No, Thanks, I'm Full. Really. (Part 1)

At some point while in the conversation about finding more, better ways to communicate, I think I have to mention how over-connected I think we are already. Let me rephrase -- not over-connected. Lots of connections are good. It's the quantity and quality of information coming from those connections that's questionable. In keeping with my MO of quoting or mentioning Merlin Mann every blog post (aka twitter.com/hotdogsladies):

"When the Dr. asks why I think I have undiagnosed ADD, I'll turn and point toward the internet. And then you guys can all laugh and wave."

Face to Facebook: Online Social Networks Might Not Be the Goldmine You Think They Are

Jimmy Marks, Special Guest Author and DigitalMailer's Whippersnapper-in-Chief, talks about Social Networking dollars and digs (or is it "diggs"?) into the bottom line.

I woke up this morning and started on my routine. Toaster-waffles cooking? Check. Coffee brewing? Check. Paper somewhere close to the driveway? Not even close, so...check. And once all the unimportant bits are finished, I go for the laptop. E-mail first, then the morning cartoons, then Facebook. I'm a die-hard "facebooker" - I have been since Facebook's inception my freshman year of college. By the way (I'll bet you didn't know this), Facebook wasn't always Facebook: it started as "AboutFace", a web application designed to be a directory system for industry professionals. Don't believe me? I wouldn't either...which is why I included a link to Facebook's history, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

"Twitter"-pated: Following Rob Around

Rob Banker takes the time to tell us about his new obsession.

Every once in a while a new technology (or more accurately, a new application of an existing technology) comes along that is fascinating for its inventiveness, but makes me think, "Huh?". That's what, until recently, I thought about Twitter. The biggest problem with Twitter is describing what Twitter is (or isn't). One school of thought is that Twitter is like IM, but it's designed to be one-to-many communication. The problem with that analogy is that it's not quite as interactive/real-time as IM. Others have called it micro-blogging. It's a quick way to give your 'followers' (in Twitter terms) a quick update on what you're doing or whatever random thought happens to be passing through your (my) caffeine-addled brain.