Saturday, July 15, 2006

Clowntown Latest & Murdoch's MySpace.

Dowie Watch: Ex-Palace manager Iain Dowie has claimed that Palace chairman Simon Jordan forced him to quit Selhurst Park following what has claimed to be a foul mouthed attack on Dowie's coaching and managerial abilities. The one time Oldham boss is reported to have said that Jordan used intimidation in trying to undermine his managerial authority.
Papers lodged at the High Court reveal that the chairman had "...deliberately set out in an abusive, aggressive, vulgar and demeaning manner to attack his achievements...he deliberately set out to encourage Dowie to resign". Dowie is countersuing Jordan for branding him a liar.
Is this the secret as to why we've had as many managers in the number of years that Jordan has been chairman?
It'll all come out in the wash.
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Murdoch Watch: According to an interview with Rupert Murdoch published in the latest issue of U.S based Wired magazine, old "Howlin' Mad" may not be as insane as people first thought. As many of you will know, Murdoch has bought MySpace as an internet tool for the purposes of marketing his media empire's version of news and entertainment.
No shit!
He is wise enough and old enough to realise that MySpace has millions of users, all of whom have the ability of seeing various advertisements pumped out by his firm NewsCorp. What initially started out as an online social network is in the process of becoming a vehicle for turning NewsCorp into a serious presence on the net. It stands to reason, as in the future less people will be inclined to buy newspapers so an alternative source of advertising medium will be required.
Advertising on the net is, of course, nothing new. So why has Murdoch bought MySpace for the staggering sum of $580million?
The users on MySpace are basically computer savy, they know how to log on to the site and that is all that's required from them. These users are people who can create a buzz for new bands, films and other forms of entertainment. In return, NewsCorp will have access to a type of consumer survey of millions of people who display their likes and dislikes online. The consumers in return, will be able to carry on using this site as a homepage for blogs and picture posting, etc.
One of the reasons I left MySpace was because it seemed too gimmicky for my liking. If other people wanted to read your blog, they had trouble viewing it, unless of course they had their own profile (as a MySpace member) as well. It's all very teenager-hanging-out-in-a-shopping-centre type stuff, and I'm not a teenager. It's a site that makes you feel "belonged" in a virtual community and there are many other sites out there exactly like that (Tribe and MSN Spaces being just two other examples), which is fine...if that's your thing.
You see, MySpace gives many people access to a member’s life, without giving the time needed to maintain such relationships, and that such relationships do not possess the depth of in-person relationships. Ironic in a way, as the original goal of MySpace was to "bring people together". Does that mean that the very nature of MySpace is a fad or some kind of passing trend? Many organisations do not seem to think so, at least not for the time being. Many of the bands that I listen to have bona-fide profiles on the site as well as people who claim to be someone they are not. I'll bet my bottom dollar that "Howlin' Mad" has got a few parody profiles of himself set up by people that are not associated with him. Stalkers have also been considered as a serious problem for users on the site.
Blogger is owned by Google. It's simple to use (when it works) and can be easily customised if you know a thing or two about HTML code. You, the blogger, can decide wether you want your blog to host advertising or not, and if you do, you can earn a few shekels in the process.
At the moment, Blogger is free to use (as is MySpace) but how long will it be before Blogger follows suit towards other intentions?

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