The anti-virus companies are of course riding high on the reports. Symantec has teamed up with Yahoo to reach more users with its Norton software and Kaspersky labs is adding heat by warning us that malware is getting more sophisticated.

I think it is great that the government sees better technology education as a step to avoiding Internet crimes but I am often dubious when reports come out that are generated by the firms gaining the most from our heightened concerns. Often with no firm statistical evidence we are asked to accept that we are in more danger than ever before.

A quick search shows that we may be moving in this direction - the US Department of Justice is currently creating an extensive Cyber Crime survey to assess the impact on US businesses. It would be nice to see the UK government taking similar steps for the 1,500,000 businesses online in this country, not to mention the millions of home users.

Julia Hobsbawn had just been talking about how new media has changed the landscape in terms of reporting news and the rise of the columnist within newspapers.

The question was ‘We know journalists can’t do without PR, but can PR now do without journalists?’

I agree with Julia’s answer, which was that we will need journalists as they are still a quality gauge and as such consumers have built a level of trust with them that the Internet is still some way off reaching.

Even when a business press release appears almost unchanged in a paper, it is much more credible for the public, because it has been chosen to appear on the pages of the publication than if it were on the company’s website.

Trust is still the most important commodity in terms of reaching an audience, but I wonder how long will it be before the Internet and globalisation make this less important and if they do, what might the world’s most important commodities become for reaching consumers in our global marketplace?

The new media in this case is the myriad of ways that we can use the Internet to reach all our stakeholders and customers and every single session included at least a passing glance to how we must change our thinking to incorporate the Net.

I was there producing a podcast for the conference, which I have been editing over the last few days. It will be online by tomorrow and I’ll include a link to it as soon as possible. It gives a flavour of the event and you’ll see just how prominent blogging and the Internet are.

In particular, the keynote speakers looked at the effect of social networking and the globalisation of information and stories.

More news on this soon…

Rank outsider sues Google over zero score
Music industry to sue Yahoo China
UK lawsuit proceeds against Russian MP3 site
Image-based spam on the rise

Yesterday, I promoted the opportunity for people to tell ICANN, the Internet’s ‘ruling body’ what they think ICANN should stand for and should be championing on behalf of the online world.

Probably one of the biggest issues is that of bringing into line with each nation an industry that connects us. Internet Law has to be one of the most difficult areas but most important to clarify.

As businesses, we know that loopholes in the law can often bring opportunities and increased wealth. The Internet seems full of loopholes that we are only just beginning to discover - or at least, official bodies are only just beginning to try and close.

Is there a way to create Internet Law and maintain it as a global community? Or are we going to see content restricted to specific geographical areas (as we already have in China).

When I bought a few cassettes from a Turkish market back in 1991, they were a fraction of the price they would be in the UK and yet there was no outcry or talk of the courts. The global reach of sites like allofmp3.com will be addressed in the British courts and beyond and then we will see the movie industry going through much of what the music industry has, unless Internet Laws are established and agreed upon.

But can you see this happening? And should the same competitive environment exist online that countries experience offline?

Both ICANN and the NTIA - an arm of the US government’s department of commerce are illiciting the world’s thoughts. Have a look at what people are saying and post up yourself at the ICANN At-Large Advisory Committee site.

Or alternatively, you can email the NTIA with your thoughts - but hurry, you only have until this Friday (7th July).

When you think about it - podcasting is a perfect form for this kind of information exchange. The organisers will not want to reveal everything from the event - as it devalues the experience for the delegates. At the same time they want to create a flavour of the day to raise the profile of the event, entice professionals in the sphere along to future conferences and promote their remit as a resource for the latest information on PR.

I’ll be plugging in to the mixing desk as well as catching up with the keynote speakers for more relaxed chats in order to put together an overview of one of the most important events in the PR calendar.

If you’d like to get hold of a ticket then try Don’t Panic, the event organisers and I’m sure they’ll be able to help you out.

Perhaps I’ll see you there and get a short interview out of you for the podcast?

IPTV will almost certainly be the way to watch TV programmes on your computer - or TV through a hard drive box before too long. But there’s a conflict thus far between the programme makers and the ISPs/telcos because one can’t do it well without the other and this kind of bandwidth doesn’t come cheap.

The paper talks about the need to offer better alternatives to piracy and the difficulties facing the big companies in trying to achieve this. One possible solution put by the writer Alexander Cameron is Google Ad Words and the personalisation of advertising.

However, it takes for granted that we do not mind Google discovering all about us in order to present us with the most relevant adverts. What with Google talking about listening to our TVs through our computers, how many consumers actually want this kind of intrusion?

One company that looks to be finding alternatives is Murdoch’s News Corporation the parent company of the UK’s BSkyB. In the last year he has made a series of interesting moves. As a content provider he needs to have a foothold in the Internet infrastructure, which explains the purchase of EasyNet an ISP. The other interesting purchase is MySpace which gives him influence over one of the largest online communities on the planet. So he is reaching the audience and finding ways to provide the content.

But is this a direction that other content providers can afford?

Users can create a lens, which is a simple web page that discusses one particular topic. And we all know that there are potentially millions of topics. It is being advertised as a marketing opportunity for individuals and businesses to promote information about a topic and then drive traffic to their own site. And there are signs that it is working

Behind the site is Seth Godin American marketer and writer of All Marketers are Liars. Seth promotes the feel good factor of marketing as well as an authentic approach to communication and he combines both in Squidoo.

The site allows you to post links to appropriate products on etail sites such as Amazon, eBay and Cafe Press and you can raise revenue from this either for yourself or charity. Each page is also sandwiched by Google Ads top and bottom. So the money raising potential is there and as each page concentrates on a particular topic, Google has an easy job to make the ads relevant to the audience.

On the downside, this kind of set-up seems open to abuse from people whose sole aim is to increase their links on the web. I believe it will have to be carefully administrated to make sure that the potency of the information is not diluted, because if that happens the community’s appeal may wane.

I am thinking of my own lens though…

The Opera team has quietly built a name for itself and the new browser Opera 9 is now available to download. Savvy Internet users have given Firefox a go and the majority of those that start using it tend to carry on. Very few of us in contrast are downloading Opera.

Ross Shannon offers a review of the big browsers on HTMLSource. It is heavily weighted against IE, but gives some insight into the strengths of Firefox and Opera.

What’s interesting about Opera is its focus on a niche market that has the potential to grow into the mainstream. I refer to its collaboration with BitTorrent. And as we all know, the future of the web is content and many of the web’s pioneers are discussing the best ways to share that content, whether it be text, audio, image or video. So Opera looks set to grow in line with some of the web’s most exciting trends.

That’s why Proctor & Gamble’s announcing of the Internet as an emerging platform for brand building (outside of the regular banner ads and seo) is most welcome.

For those who don’t know, the web and email are now crucial for spreading your company message and so ad agencies like Proctor and Gamble are looking to offer freebies and coupons to encourage consumers to recommend their clients through these ‘new channels’.

I think this will mark an interesting shift in marketing that brings together strategies to incorporate the Web, rather than tagging it on as an extra. But they still seem to shy from the viral potential of the medium.

At Christmas last year UKFast experimented with a festive viral game, a play on the classic Space Invaders. We sent it out to about 10 sources and let them do the work and within 3 days hits to the UKFast site were up 1000% and visitors were flocking in from all over the world. The game opened up markets that UKFast had never targeted before.

Our experiment was not product driven, but it shows the potential for building brand and product awareness. With a little more imagination you can turn a coupon in to a real awareness campaign.

I have recently spoken to a number of sources including a top high street chain that are already producing viral campaigns for the web and I think the mainstream is finally catching on.

I can see Netscape appealing heavily to those who are not web savvy enough to download a comprehensive aggregator and choose their own RSS feeds.

But RSS is a bigger issue here than some might think. If user trends continue towards personalisation on the web then more people will be interested in using emerging platforms such as Windows Live and Google’s personalisation system than a site that makes you work to find the content.

Will Netscape therefore go down the Ajax route in order to compete directly with the big players? If not, then the success of the new site will depend very much on the quality of commentary its editors provide on the existing stories that web users can easily access themselves.

I hope the site works for AOL/Netscape though, as it would be good to see them competing again with the Internet giants that have left them behind in recent years.

This kind of regeneration or enhanced recycling is something that we can be doing in business all the time. Every morning I generate business stories based around what our visitors are interested in reading. These in turn create themes and topics that I can discuss with clients and build into podcasting features, which may turn up interesting comment and opinion that can be acted upon and turned into Press Releases and even in some cases, new policy or product for the business.

This cycle of regeneration and development helps to build business in many different ways and reaches out to a global audience just as quickly as a local one.

And by blogging about it, I can create an extra layer within the cycle. How are you making sure you maximise on your information and expertise?

And in one sense this is true - any ISP can pull out a few cables and disconnect people from the Internet, or do a few lines of code and block a network of people from seeing a range of websites.

Today questions abound about who controls the Internet. Google has only just been reinstated in China after a couple of weeks of conflict with the Government and the Net Neutrality bill has taken a step backwards in the U.S.

What will happen if companies are allowed to create tiers of performance on the Net? Why is the U.S. debating this issue without involving the whole Net community? Should Google and other Internet giants retreat from China or submit to sensorship issues?

I think the global industry is beginning to face its widest challenges to date. Where does the real power lie - is it with the Internet corporates, the ISP’s, the governments or somewhere else entirely? And how do we bring all these sectors together to bring an outcome that is most beneficial to the user in front of their computer/mobile/blackberry/satelite TV?

Clare Johnson of Digital Marketing specialists Adoofa, spoke first and gave marketers a great overview of SEO and PPC with emphasis on tried and tested techniques and avoidance of the ‘Dark Arts.’ The message, to work with the Search Engines and you will be rewarded.

Lawrence Jones of UKFast concurred with Clare and added a couple more levels. He spoke on the importance of infrastructure: the need for speed and reliability, likening success in the industry to the ancient Parable of the Sower. “If you throw seed on stony ground it will not grow. If you place it on fertile ground it will flourish.” In this way, he highlighted the need to take your hosting solutions very seriously and used examples to show how good hosting alone can boost profitability online.

Lawrence also went into detail about putting your website at the heart of your business and backing up the promises you make with a customer experience on and offline that your competitors cannot match.

You can find out more about Lawrence’s talk on his blog today.

Lawrence was followed by Heather Hopkins of Hitwise. Heather’s data analysis gave the audience food for thought on keywords and the importance of marrying up your online and offline strategies. She also showed graphs that proved men only search for gambling when they are not searching for football and vice versa!!

Peter Cobley of Yahoo Search Marketing was the final speaker and he brought an insight into the Pay Per Click business across all the engines. Naturally, the emphasis was on Yahoo, but he also impressed the need to work with Google.

The Q+A was also a lively affair, a discussion about pushing the boundaries with the engines took centre stage. The subject brought a variety of opinions and so I have chosen to take it on in the UKFast Podcast over the next week or so. I’ll blog again and link to it when it is available.

All in all, the message was fairly clear - your online presence has never been more important and in the global market you face stiff competition. But by working with the search engines and giving your site a strong grounding, you have every chance of competing at the top level.

The big question everyone was left with was; What exactly do the search engines want?

As part of our campaign to boost the online presence of Manchester businesses, UKFast conducts a serious of focus groups. If you are interested in getting involved and sharing your online marketing experience with a network of other businesses, learning from others mistakes and successes, then please email me and I will add you to our list.

It’s going to be a hugely informative evening and having heard snippets of Lawrence’s talk, a lot of the information is very specific and could make a real difference. It’s a rare opportunity to hear from people in positions in the Internet industry that allow them a lot of niche knowledge.

I am not sure whether there are any tickets left, but if you are interested in trying to get one, email Nicky Wake at Don’t Panic Projects and she might be able to squeeze you in.

I’ll post again about the event afterwards for those who are unable to make it.

This weekend I heard the news that Fold.com was ironically folding. The Ajax based homepage that began in beta just 3 months ago has most likely been beaten out by similar sites that allow you to create your own individual homepage such as Netvibes.

There’s no doubt that personalisation on the web is set to be a major part of the future as it allows us to assert our own individualism but another area that has allowed people to do this and make a living from it is the blogosphere.

Just as Fold.com was closing its doors I discovered Dooce. The amount of comments on each post shows the popularity of this blog. You only need to read for a few minutes to realise that you’ve been drawn in by the originality of the voice. And she openly admits that since introducing ads to the site in Oct 2005, she and her family are well supported.

Is it possible that individuality in others interests the majority of people more than the opportunity to present individuality themselves?

So as RSS becomes more widespread, what does this mean for search engines? If you use Google News or Yahoo News this morning, the story is picked up from all the sources above and more, but through a general web search none of the above appear in the top ten pages of results.

Is this an indication of the ‘invisible rules’ of search engine optimisation? Or is it a deliberate attempt by the search giants to delineate information into sections. Either way, my prefered way to receive news is through RSS, so what will happen to the engines if this becomes the mainstream method of receiving news and subsequently other types of information?

Even more astonishing is that ransomware was brought to my attention by the Manchester Evening News today. My daily browse of BBC Online, The Register and ZDNet.com did not bring anything to light and yet, the front page of the local paper delivered a story of International importance about cybercrime through the tale of a local woman.

The first entry Google does offer is the Wikipedia definition which is worth a read.

It’s hugely important to keep informed about new emerging threats to our online security. But I have to admit I’m a little surprised by the source of the breaking news.

It shows that while the Internet has found ways to deliver the national and international news faster than ever before, it still has a little to learn when it comes to local news.

One to the MEN!

There are still many businesses using the Internet only because they feel they should be a part of it. But efficient online contact with potential clients in this category is reliant on their embracing the forms that we associate with Web 2.0 and becoming a part of our online circles.

Well, Winelog is a new wiki site set to draw a whole new audience into the arena. It’s almost an irresistible destination for any true wine lover and with a prominent blog, the chance to share each other’s favourites and a firm guiding hand the site will educate many in the potentials of online communication tools without them even realising it.

Coming soon on the site is the opportunity to have your own RSS feed direct from your personal winelog.

While the traditional networking circles are still alive and well, online arenas are opening up everywhere and it’s important now for businesses to make sure they are integrating into them.

For many, the semantic web is the real Web 2.0. I’d recommend a read of a BBC report that discusses the developments. For many web businesses the wait is now on to see how ’semantic’ search changes the way they are found and therefore, the way they have to programme and populate their sites.

There’s a semantic search engine already on the web. Why not get a head start and have a look at Swoogle.

At one time it was the producer who held all the cards. High Street shops would buy perishable goods from farms and would sell based on what they could get. Nowadays, supermarkets have overturned that power, dictating what they want provided by whom, riding down prices and driving up quality. A good thing for the customer. A good thing for the supplier?

When you add the Internet into the equation you introduce further layers of reliance. The companies that house the world’s Internet sites are reliant on a multitude of suppliers, in the same way that Bill Gates needs computer makers and computer makers need chip suppliers.

Reliance is something that makes life a challenge but can also make it very frustrating. I wonder if you can think of any businesses that do not rely on outside forces of one kind or another?

I’ve been trying this morning to contact Telnic about this and find out more. There are details on their website and ICANN also has an explanation (albeit less straight forward) on their site but I’d like to find out the things they don’t tell us.

In the UKFast Podcast, I discussed tld’s a few weeks ago and this new development feels worth a little extra feature. If you look at the FAQ’s on the Telnic site, you’ll find information about new software needed and the solution is to get the newly developed software from Telnic themselves. Suddenly the reason for the new tld starts to make more commercial sense.

The board at ICANN must realise this, as one of the members Susan Crawford has questioned ICANN’s role in choosing sponsors after this decision. It suggests to me that the commercial gains often outweigh the actual necessity for the domain to come into fruition.

I keep an open mind however and await a return call…

The sector has been very interesting to watch online and I wonder if we are now experiencing the fight back that has been muted for some time. The Internet has changed the model of how we book holidays and in some way what we expect from a holiday, but the holiday experience, the senses and feelings, that traditional travel agents have for years used to lure us into the holiday of a lifetime, are finding their way online. Video streaming is just one of the techniques that Thomson is employing to deliver the desire and it seems to be working.

In every sector now, the next big web challenge is to provide the consumer with a sensory experience in one form or another. So, does it stand to reason that those who are practised offline, will now take the lead online?

The most common question was - “Where’s the money in it?” After I explained the value of reaching out in a more personal way a lot of them would agree that the return on investment, while not directly about revenue could actually be of very great value to them.

It strikes me that business on the Internet has thrown a great many into a face value environment, in which they feel they do not need to reveal their genuine personality. Some have thrived by creating a compelling facade, with great products and website functionality. I have a feeling that this is going to change now though.

An astonishing amount of people took a great interest in blogging and podcasting and also appreciated the theories behind their use - namely that they allow users to get to know a business better and build a stronger sense of trust.

With trade on the Net becoming so competitive, a vast number of consumers are likely to start choosing their favourites based on their relationship with them and sites that continue without true substance will definitely suffer.

This is what my experience suggests. I’d be really interested to know other people’s thoughts.

Delivering the New PR brings together expertise from Europe and America to discuss the importance of Internet Technologies within any company’s communications strategy.

The one day conference presents theory, strategy and practice that demonstrate in compelling ways; how new forms of communication are changing the way we work and how we can harness them.

The full day event is being held on Friday May 12, at the Marriott Hotel Regents Park in London and is organised by Don’t Panic Projects. There may be a few places left. You can try and book online or contact Nicky Wake.

Maybe I’ll see some of you there.

Project Entropia is blurring the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds by creating a cash card allowing its gamers to do just this.

But they don’t get something for nothing. In December 2004, one gamer spent £13,700 buying an island on the games virtual planet Calypso. Within a year, he had made his money back by renting land and taxing miners and hunters! He can now withdraw the cash as his island continues to bring him revenue, yet his customers will never see anything real or tangible for their money.

More recently his purchase has been overshadowed by Jon Jacobs who spent £56,200 on a space resort that he plans to turn into a virtual night club selling music and video downloads.

These virtual entrepreneurs are a new breed of businessmen. But virtual profit translating into real money concerns me in some ways. What benefit is this new global economy having on our real economies?

Project Entropia alone made $165million in 2005 and plans to double this in 2006. Is this where the leisure industry is heading and is it a good thing?

The New York Times has published an article discussing just how potentially serious this battleground is and it is being debated all over the net.

Microsoft’s concerns centre around Google’s potential to become a kind of operating system of the Internet in the same way that Windows is the dominant operating system of personal computing.

And Microsoft has announced that it is boosting its spending by $2billion, which comes shortly after Google’s talk about increasing theirs by $1.5billion.

Nicholas Carr poses an interesting question. Was it money that pressed the change from Amazon - if so how much did it cost Microsoft and could this be part of a bigger deal?

While the world is talking about it, the companies involved are not showing their hands, so who will make the next move?

There are going to be some incredible stands and key note speakers there. UKFast will be making our presence known, not only in the arena, but on the stage as well. We have elected to talk about the opportunities presented to businesses by the Internet’s many new forms of communication. And of course, we are concentrating particularly on blogging and podcasting.

On that note, keep an eye out on ukfastblog over the next few weeks for our new Community section, which we are opening with an ambitious project entitled ‘Word From the Street.’

The new blog and podcast aims to harness the incredible energy of 5 time Olympic Gold medallist, turned social broker Geoff Thompson. Geoff’s campaign to inspire our country’s youth to excel at sport by receiving the social infrastructure they need, began in the suburbs of Manchester and has taken him all over the world. He is currently working towards the 2012 Olympics and is a man worth listening to.

We’re very excited about bringing him to a wider audience. He’s the kind of person podcasting was made for. Look out for him on our blogging community within the week.

Under 2,000 units have been bought as opposed to 35m packages with media player. Microsoft’s lawyers argued; “The failure to offer a product that nobody wants cannot be an abuse.”

Surely these figures show a much deeper situation that is conveniently ignored and relates to working practices and public perception.

When buying a PC, 90% of people are offered the Window’s operating system. Since January, have they all been given the option of Edition N? Moreover we don’t know whether sales people see it as a product worth promoting. Why offer the reduced version rather than the one with ‘extras.’

For those a little more computer savvy it still comes down to an attitude to technology. If Window’s Media Player has worked for you, why change it. Internet culture is based on convenience and efficiency and the maxim ‘better the devil’ often applies. Human nature means we get comfortable with one way of doing things and wont change unless it’s very easy or is forced upon us.

While Microsoft fights this case, it doesn’t have to reveal any source code - the same code that will make it easier for competitiors to develop media players as easy to use in Window’s as Microsoft’s own. In the meantime, users will continue to take the easiest option.

Window’s is not just software, it’s routine, it’s convenience and it’s such a part of daily life that it requires a massive shift in user habit to imagine it as a less dominant part of the computer experience. This is why the sales figures shouldn’t surprise and why they are unreliable in Microsoft’s defence.

A Times Online article cites a concern that Google has turned aggressive and is wielding it’s pocket full of cash in a dangerous way, buying and developing technologies that bring competition to each of the others on various levels, from GoogleTalk, to Google Calendar.

There is a sophisticated undercurrent here as each squares off against the next. There is no confirmation from eBay as to whether these alliances are official - they are actually playing the whole scenario down - but then, in real terms they have to.

Of the four companies, eBay is the only one that relies on the others for a large percentage of its revenue - as all three are the drivers of traffic to the auction site. In the UK Google is the favoured search engine for 75% of web users, while MSN and Yahoo! take less than 10% each according to recent figures.

Whether eBay are forging alliances or not - when you consider the market share, a story like this one in The Times suggests a case of ‘biting the hand that feeds,’ which is definitely bad news for the auction site.

EBay has just announced that it has a community of 200m. MySpace also has a huge following, Yahoo! of course is one of the superpowers as is MSN. So should disputes online be dealt with by these communities or by our more earthly communities?

EBay is in the news today for allowing people to sell .eu domains that perhaps should not belong to them. Nestle and Disney are both considering suing the website for providing a marketplace for rowntrees.eu and euroDisneyParis.eu respectively.

However, the rules of the Internet allowed people to purchase the domain names without being affiliated to the companies in question - so shouldn’t eBay be allowed to act as a provider in this way?

I suspect that in the end it may buckle in the same way that it did about Live8 tickets last year - but we shall see.

When looking for a new bank account or credit card provider, do you ask the provider what they are doing to counteract phishing and cyber crime? I’d imagine the majority of us don’t - but soon it will be an obvious question.

But shouldn’t it be the banks responsibility to inform us of how our information will be protected online?

There is an interesting post on Greg Hughes’ blog about cyber crime targeting banks and what can be done about it. Greg builds anti-phishing software and is also a firm believer in prevention as protection and thinks the banks should communicate better.

I’d certainly prefer a better solution than banks issuing card numbers which are valid for single transactions only, which is actually one muted option.

The problem is that banks see a double edged sword. They refund stolen money but don’t investigate, because the cost of investigation will often exceed the initial loss. They are also guarded about their security methods because they don’t want to give anything away to the wrong people.

None of this however, builds the confidence of the spender who is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to finding the safest place for their money.

Although, Yahoo’s up coming travel search does not provide new technologies, making it less ‘innovation’ and more ‘filing system’ for its current travel capabilities scattered across its portal.

Yahoo aims to up the anti on established online travel agents by bringing together extra services on a second level page such as travel guides, maps and satellite images.

At present, much of the second level information is collected from other sources - Lonely Planet guides provide background information but it has been muted that Yahoo may use tourist created reviews in the new version.

As consumer distrust of corporate business grows there is no better way to regain trust than by using independent, relevant recommendations. This is why wikitravel is so successful. But with such sites in existence, it suggests that Yahoo is merely copying tried and tested concepts.

However, Yahoo has a strong user base. With over 14 million visitors to Yahoo Travel in February this year, they may well be able to create a very healthy travel environment. Encouraging user interaction may build up consumer content that makes a marked difference, but I suspect consumer spend will always be the key. They will still have to beat the competition on price. After all, 9 out of 10 travel buyers will go with the website offering the cheapest deal and they’re willing to shop around for it.

The new technology, also coveted by Microsoft and Yahoo!, finds pages where the content is about a topic strongly related to the key word. It then returns a section of the page, and lists other topics related to the key word so the user can pick the most relevant.

The technologies true innovation lies in the accuracy with which it returns results and the speed at which you subsequently find the relevant information. It is good news for sponsored links - and therefore Google - as the ability to return even more accurate results should improve the return on investment, which will allow Google to up prices accordingly.

It doesn’t appear to be as good news for websites in the general search list as the results do not return the webpage itself, but a section of it - so searchers may get their answers without being drawn onto a website, giving that site less traffic.

Having said all this, it could be that Google has only done the deal to make sure that its main competitors can’t and Orion, like other Google acquisitions may be re-badged and brought to the public in a totally new guise. We will have to wait and see.

I’m with the consumer perspective on this. If you create a global market and encourage anyone to sell within it, then you have to be prepared that someone somewhere will be able to provide at a cheaper rate than others. I know a lot of people from different walks of life that download music from allofmp3 and will continue to do so until they are told that it is illegal. Quite simply - as consumers, we want value for money. It’s not as though our first thought is for the starving music executives, it’s more likely to be for the huge price rises we’ve seen over the years on CD’s.

Should allofmp3 be bundled into the ‘villain’ category? People find the loop holes in business everywhere in order to get the legal edge. Often they’re closed. But until this loop hole is closed isn’t it more of a ‘hero’ for the people?

Nicholas Carr started the week by giving his rules for corporate blogs. And yesterday Robert Scoble (of Microsoft) and Shel Israel , two blogging evangelists stopped in at Amazon to talk about their book Naked Conversations , which discusses the importance of company blogs.

By all accounts they were surprised by the challenge they met from Amazon CTO Werner Vogels to give substantial reasons why Amazon’s profits would benefit from blogging.

Bloggers all over are talking about it. One of the most digestible and light hearted reports is by Rick Segal .

It relates in two senses - with internal and external meetings.

UKFast is expanding. In order to build every department in tandem the senior management are engaging in meetings with the Chairman, where the onus is on them to all contribute to and be informed on each others area. Having worked at companies where a line is drawn between being in charge of a meeting and being present at it, the bonuses of this approach are truly refreshing.

Investment in the bigger picture means that all departments are actively building a greater understanding of each other that filters down through the whole organisation. As a communications manager, I love it.

Yesterday we mocked up some presentations with our new account handlers. The brief was to inform us about UKFast’s products and services and what makes the company special. Baring in mind that they are currently experiencing an information overload, we were unsure what the results would be. One thing struck me. When a salesperson believes the importance of the final element of the brief the products and services just about sell themselves. It’s about how you do it more than what you do.

In both cases, believing in what you are doing and investing in it brings the rewards whether you are the audience or the speaker.

In particular there’s .travel, which attempts to create an online directory incorporating millions of travel websites. As an industry, travel and tourism is a world leader with around 12% of the global market. Online, travel is also a leader. Is this a reason for ICANN to shake up the current system?

Is this a money making exercise for the US travel conglomerate that will act as registrar for the new tld?

Is it a genuine way to create a cream of the crop list? If so, how will this process differ to the way that current search engines work?

I spoke to someone from British Airways last year when the initial sign up process began for .travel and the gist was that they were buying their relevant tlds in order to safeguard them - rather than to actually use them.

But recent reports suggest that 16,000 domains have been registered. What do people think? Will this new directory be taken as seriously as Google and Yahoo! currently are?

I personally suspect that by asking people to opt in you are going to build a directory that represents a small percentage of what is available on the Net. So at best it will be used by the fickle site flicking public as another option in their search for the best deal. My research suggests that people have tried and tested the travel market and many are set on the way they search.

As we’re a hosting company, the core of the training is about our services and how they fit into the grand scheme of things - but naturally there’s a mass of important history and culture that we need to draw from.

We were deep into domain name servers and propagation this afternoon, when someone said; “Hold on a second, what’s the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web?”

It’s a hugely valid question and having talked around the subject in regards to email provisions, web hosting and application servers earlier on, my colleague George and I had neglected to realise some of the basics for the group.

With that sorted, they’re now getting through clustering and load balancing, so I hope they are not experiencing a mid afternoon lull!

For me, it’s difficult to know how to go about giving a comprehensive yet concise run down of what you need to know about the Net. Perhaps someone can recommend a site or two that can help?

The question is: Should a designer spend time dividing the image into sections so that the webpage is loading up a number of separate files, giving the appearance of a faster page, or should the image remain one file?

The argument against division is that it is not actually faster, it just appears to be and on top of this, you have to write more code for each complete image, which may affect the speed.

I got out of the argument when it got down to “it depends how clean the code you are writing is.”

I know plenty of businesses that do it one way and plenty that do it the other. So does it come down to personal preference, or is one way really better than the other?

Since then, Microsoft Word has been the obvious and only choice for me and most others I know. But today, in a more modern kind of cross-platform collaboration to my essay writing of old, I am typing this in AjaxWrite and then pasting it into my blog software!

Google have just bought Writely so we can expect their challenge to Microsoft’s Office products on the horizon, but AjaxWrite has launched this week and the Net is talking about it. Creator Michael Robertson says that for 90% of the world’s population, the need to buy Microsoft Word just vanished. There are those who agree.

It’s fitting that Internet Explorer does not support this new tool, so you need to use Firefox 1.5 or above to get it up and running. Why not have a look and see what you think.

Apparently 63% of respondents say that the Internet will take more of their marketing budget in the future. From a privileged position as a technological B2B company, it’s quite easy to suggest that this move is more a necessity than a choice.

Print platforms are now notoriously difficult for B2B companies to reach an audience through - raising awareness in non trade titles particularly. Quite apart from the worth of advertising space, editorial is very tough to attain, which will be frustrating for many who read about the addictive qualities of garden peas in the Metro free paper twice in the same week (Tues 21 and Thurs 23 March).

Over the Atlantic, US watchdogs are predicting that public opinion is moving away from TV as the top advertising medium. Everything points toward the web.

Does this mean that web giants like Google and Yahoo will clean up with ad banners and pay per clicks? Or is it an opportunity for companies to be more proactive in the way they market, reaching out to their audience through blogging, podcasting, wikis and other online communication tools?

I don’t mind reading about garden peas but have to admit that my time splits much more in favour of web news week on week.

What happens when a international tools collide with national beliefs? How important is the ‘open’ nature of the Net?

From a viewpoint in the UK, the Internet is also evolving at different rates geographically. Perceptions of the web’s potential in the US led to an embracing of blogging, podcasting, VoIP in the business sector. Europe and the rest of the world are still dipping their toes in. What price will we pay for being hesitant?

Just this morning, the news is out on Google Finance. Reading through articles I begin to believe that Google Finance will be better than all financial sites that have gone before. I think, “Yahoo! has been going for ten years, but I reckon Google might just do it better.” Then I read that the online brokers also feel the threat and I feel sorry for them, but wonder if we, the world’s businesses, are better off with Google doing it anyway!

I just assume that they have the globes’ best financial analysts working with them and that they know us well enough to work out exactly what we want. And I do this, because Google has very successfully sold us a story that we not only believe, but want to believe. Even if we try hard not to, we can’t help but admire the innovators of Mount View California because all their gadgets make our lives easier and more fun.

What Google has achieved as a massive corporate is very impressive. They have gained the general public’s trust and maintain such a buzz that we want to talk about them. Seth Godin calls this Flipping the Funnel and believes that any business that can inspire the public to do their talking for them is truly on the track to success.

I wonder whether you agree? Or maybe not? If the very thought of Google makes you scream and run for cover, then I’d love to know why.

I’d like the UKFastblog to develop into a community that embraces and discusses the world it resides in, find it’s own place within the blogosphere and encourage other businesses to get online and engage in ‘conversation.’

On his blog mediations earlier this month, Philip Young, wrote about institutions and businesses wary of allowing comment and dialogue to spread, companies that discourage ‘talk’ in case it is of a negative nature. I think it’s this kind of approach that deterred the majority of businesses from embracing blogging a few years ago in the UK.

As Philip points out - conversations are happening anyway. You can either join in and represent yourself or allow talk to grow into gossip and in many cases misrepresentation. Wouldn’t you rather have ‘knowledge’ than ‘blissful ignorance’?

As an Internet Service Provider, UKFast has a great role to play in the dialogue about our industry and so we’ll be posting every weekday from now on. We have a great deal of expertise within our walls and I’ll be calling on it to discuss anything and everything happening in the online world and how it might affect businesses online and off.

Hopefully, a number of you will join me to become commentators and decision makers in the Internet as it continues evolving.