Internet Strategies you can use!

Six Strategies for Keyword Optimization Success

Optimizing a Web site doesn’t require a huge budget. It doesn’t require the latest and greatest technology, a “Beautiful Mind” mind, or round-the-clock vigilance to keep your site ranked highly.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it does require diligence, especially if your primary online marketing component is paid search. You’ve spent hours upon hours coming up with and testing the right keywords to attract the right traffic to your site. Now it’s time to fine-tune them.

There are six easy ways to redefine and expand your keyword list to help ensure paid search success.

Add Related Keywords
By adding related keywords, you ensure you are covering a broad spectrum of searches, as well as increasing your traffic. For instance, if you are using the keyword phrase “women’s shoes,” you may also want to consider adding related terms such as “girls’ shoes” or “ladies’ shoes.”

Use Keyword Variations
Adding variations of the same keyword will also maximize your traffic. For instance, if “women’s shoes” is working well, then add variations of it like “women’s shoe,” or “woman’s shoes.” This works great for URLs, too. So for example, in addition to targeting “soppaz” (fictional shoe site), try “.soppaz.com” or just “soppaz.”

Target Your Keywords
Specificity sells. Try adding specific keywords to zero in on customers who are ready to buy. The keyword phrase “women’s shoes,” while good, is pretty broad. Refine your list with terms that more narrowly match what your customers are looking for, such as “red women’s shoes” or “designer women’s shoes.” Also, consider your specific product/service and use terms that are related. If you are selling a line of Steve Madden shoes, then using a keyword phrase like “Steve Madden sandals” will target those customers who are most interested in that specific product type.

Broaden Keywords
Okay. I know. I just told you to be specific. But very specific keywords often generate limited volume, so finding that perfect mix of both targeted and broad keywords is the goal. You’ll want to test your keywords to find the right mix for you and your product/service.

Take Advantage of Your Competition
If you are only using keywords in your campaign, you’re missing out on great traffic! Adding your competitors’ relevant URLs is an extremely successful way to drive more, better, and yet still highly targeted traffic to your site. Still using women’s shoes as an example, a shoe advertiser may want to target Web sites that promote similar products, such as “soppaz.com/womens.html.” Targeting competitor URLs will allow you to reach consumers who are looking to buy your product or service. Both consumers and savvy advertisers benefit when relevant competitor URLs are properly utilized.

Separate Top Converting Keywords
If you have a keyword or a few keywords in a campaign that are consistently converting but causing you to hit your daily budget consistently, you may want to separate these keywords into their own campaigns. These keywords are probably consuming a large portion of your budget and preventing the remainder of your keywords from receiving more traffic. Moving your top converting keywords into their own campaign will allow you to maximize traffic for all of your keywords.
Source: Sarah Moore

Entrepreneur Rulebook: 5 Rules for Better Communication in a Web 2.0 World

1. Know your customer. If you’re going to reach the greatest number of customers and prospects, you have to know who they are and what their media habits are.
We know that more than 70% of car buyers do research on the Internet before they visit a dealership. How do your customers seek out information? Are they reading ads in the paper, searching on Google, or reading blogs? Are they talking with friends on FaceBook, or over the back fence? Would they read your blog, would they respond to a contest for the best home-made video of someone trying out your product?

2. Get people’s attention! When you know what you want to say, say it loud. Stand out. Be lively, be interesting, be fun. Don’t hold back. And never, ever be boring.
Most ads, most brochures, most website copy is dull. Boring. Written by people who didn’t understand people’s needs to be entertained, amused, teased and intrigued. Take a chance, hire a marketer, and find a way to be dazzling, fascinating, habit-forming.

3. Make it easy for your audience to find you. Archive all your ads, your press releases, your product specs or announcements, your newsletters. Get an SEO specialist to give your site more Google juice (i.e., a higher ranking on the search engines). Trade links with other businesses. Put your URL in your ads and n your business cards, let people know where to find your blogs, newsletters or limited-time coupons. If your market can’t find you, it doesn’t matter what you’re saying.

4. Overuse the word “You.” Have your customers and their needs in mind at all times. Don’t talk about your products or services – talk about how your products and services solve their problems. Get over yourself and put the customer and his or her needs at the centre of all you do.

5. Experiment. There is no one fix for every business. If blogging isn’t for you, maybe you’ll make a splash with YouTube videos or pay-per-click advertising. If newspaper ads work for you, stick with them, but experiment with interactive elements that help you build your database and communicate with more customers directly.

Above all, ask your customers what they’re listening to, what they’re reading, how they’re using the net. That’s how you can focus on the best opportunities for your business to stand out, be heard, and serve its customers better.

SOURCE: Rick Spence

Everyone’s talking about campaign integration. So why are so few doing it well?

One of the hottest topics in marketing today is campaign integration. While virtually all marketers agree on the importance of integration, they don’t feel like they’re doing it very well. According to a recent report published by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, developing integrated marketing communications is the number one concern of senior marketing executives (followed by accountability, aligning their marketing organization with innovation and building strong brands). Of those surveyed, 91% believe that an integrated campaign is of critical importance to their success; however only 21% believe that their organization actually does a great job delivering it.

The conception, execution and implementation of a successful integrated marketing campaign, is a tough job for any marketer because of the vast array of disciplines involved. There’s traditional media advertising, online marketing, public relations, product placement, promotions, mobile marketing, event marketing, direct response, in-store advertising, merchandising, multi-cultural marketing, guerilla marketing, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. To complicate matters even further, most companies operate in silos with each department working with a different specialized agency. Anyone can see why CMOs become frustrated. They receive different recommendations from different professionals at different agencies, and they’re then faced with the challenge of making sense of it all. It’s like trying to wrestle down a twelve-headed monster.

To make matters even worse, advertising agencies suffer from similar silos. In agency holding companies everyone fights for their share of the client’s dollar in order to meet their numbers. In these situations, the agencies are looking to defend their own turf and find it almost impossible to truly be media agnostic. In the end, the clients are the ones that suffer.

So how can CMOs launch successful integrated campaigns? Well, they have several options. They can hire several specialized agencies and coordinate the entire effort themselves. They can hire a holding company or full-service advertising agency and have them both develop and implement the integrated campaign. Or, they can hire a marketing consultant that works with all the agencies to coordinate the campaign integration.

Of these options, I believe that it is the marketers’ responsibility to lead the campaign integration process. They must centralize their marketing departments and break down the silos. I find it ironic that we’re in the communications business, and yet we communicate so poorly with each other. Try to send a few less IMs and emails, and instead meet face-to-face or pick up the phone more often. The result will be stronger relationships between internal departments and agencies alike. Marketers must also value their agencies as strategic partners, openly communicate with them and nurture positive relationships amongst the different specialized agency teams. All this requires a great deal of effort and a lot of hard work. But in the end, CMOs will be rewarded with a media neutral approach, best-in-class expertise, a consistent message and a truly integrated campaign.

SOURCE: Emily Rex

Regional Media News (Indonesia and Malaysia)

Malaysia: RTM to increase non-Malay ethnic programming

RTM-Malaysia will increase the number of non-Malay ethnic programmes after the Muslim festival Eid ul-Fitr to project Malaysia’s image as a multi-racial country, said the country’s Information Minister, Zainuddin Maidin. He said that in order to reinforce its identity as the national broadcasting body, RTM was responsible for airing more programmes which reflected the racial diversity in the country.

Speaking at the Information Ministry’s monthly assembly today, Mr Zainuddin said RTM had implemented various changes and new approaches aimed at raising the quality of its programmes to attract viewers. “However, if the changes that had been made were not promoted seriously to the people, no one would be aware of these changes,” Mr Zainuddin said. Mr Zainuddin felt that RTM’s customers were no longer as strong as before because many viewers had switched over to the private television stations, reports Malaysian news agency Bernama.

(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)

INDONESIA: Yogya mosque uses TV to reach the masses

Mosque provides daily Ramadhan programming for Jogokariyan residents, plans to expand after holiday

Yogyakarta — A Yogyakarta mosque has turned to television preaching to reach more people. MJTV or Masjid Jogokariyan Television was launched by the takmir (management) of Jogokariyan Mosque in Jogokariyan village on the first day of Ramadhan, or Sept. 13.

“We operate on VHF 4 channel and have a broadcasting radius of some 2.5 kilometers,” Sudi Wahyono, who belongs to the mosque’s takmir, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. With that coverage, according to Sudi, MJTV can reach all residents of Jogokariyan, which comprises 887 families, just under 4000 people, of whom 95 percent are Muslim.

“For the moment we are on air daily from 3 to 11 p.m.,” said Sudi, who is also head of household affairs at the mosque. At present the TV station’s programming consists mostly of live coverage of the Ramadhan activities at the mosque.

Apart from live programs, MJTV broadcasts information regarding upcoming activities for the benefit of the jamaah (community). This is in line with one of MJTV’s main objectives — reaching out with mosque programs to those who can’t be there physically, said Sudi.

The TV allows Muslims to follow preaching activities from the comfort of their homes. After Ramadhan, the mosque plans to expand its programming.

Built in 1996, the mosque’s Kampung Ramadhan (Ramadhan Village) program was launched during the fasting month three years ago in an effort to bring more people to the mosque and promote the neighborhood’s economic potential.

At Kampung Ramadhan, food items are on sale in the afternoon for breaking the fast. There are also performances, films, festivals, competitions and religion workshops. Other fasting month activities include i’tikaf (seclusion and meditation at the mosque for the last 10 days of Ramadhan) and tarawih, non-obligatory, Medina-style evening prayers on Saturday.

“So far we have invested some Rp 20 million in the station,” said Sudi, mentioning CCTV cameras and other broadcasting equipment, transmitters, converters, VCD players, switchers and TV sets. To cut costs, the takmir’s own four-by-six meter, air-conditioned office has been used as a studio. All TV crews work on a voluntarily basis.

“We all work for God here. So, let Allah pay for our salary,” Sudi said. Jogokariyan Mosque has become a management model for other mosques and even a minor center for comparative studies.

Other mosques’ takmir and representatives of religious offices from as far away as Pangkal Pinang and Kampar in Riau province have visited the three-story building.

“Most of them wanted to know more about our Kampung Ramadhan.”

Indonesia: Batam radio stations accused of broadcasting foreign programmes

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission in Riau Islands province has criticized a number of radio stations in Batam for selling airtime to religious groups from Singapore, allowing them to broadcast religious programmes in foreign languages. The commission’s provincial chairman, Hendriyanto, told The Jakarta Post that out of 14 private radio stations in Batam, five have sold airtime to religious institutions from Singapore.

The airtime is being used to broadcast religious programmes in foreign languages like English, Mandarin and Tagalog from the Philippines. An hour-long slot costs between S$60 and 100 per hour, with each of the radio stations involved broadcasting such programmes for at least three hours per day. “There are religious programmes from the Confucian, Christian and other religions, and they are aired in English or Mandarin,” Hendriyanto said.

(Source: Jakarta Post)

Asia Media News Summary

SINGAPORE: GP boring? Innova spices it up with Second Life
Educational institute uses online virtual reality program to teach critical thinking and writing skills
General Paper students at Innova Junior College can claim to see things from diverse points of view. They have assumed different identities in Second Life, the highly popular virtual reality world. Innova is one of at least two educational institutions here which have tapped the popular virtual community for teaching purposes and Nanyang Polytechnic uses it to teach courses in digital entertainment and society. Earlier this year, a National Institute of Education (NIE) team worked with Innova teachers to hone students’ thinking and writing skills using Second Life. Launched in 2003, Second Life is an Internet-based digital world which now has more than 9.3 million “inhabitants” from across the globe. For the study, the NIE team bought a “private island” which was named YOUtopia. Sets like rural peasant shacks and modern office buildings were built. SOURCE: The Straits Times

JAPAN: Aussies go full bore on soap opera
Australian tourism board hopes its Japanese soap opera will attract more Japanese tourists to Australia
The Australian government is pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to host a Japanese soap opera as a means of reviving tourist numbers from Japan.  The government’s tourism body, Tourism Australia, is now looking for Australian and Japanese companies to create the TV series for the Japanese market, Bailey said. The program will feature famous Australian and Japanese actors, with popular actress Yoshino Kimura already being touted as one possible star. SOURCE: The Japan Times

KOREA: New Party’s Mobile Phone Voting to Attract Youngsters
A new voting system encourages more members of the party’s electoral college to vote, accounts for 10 percent of the final result
The United New Democratic Party (UNDP) has begun to accept registration of mobile phone voters for its primary, which will likely affect the selection of its standard-bearer. The new voting system is expected to encourage more members of the party’s electoral college, especially young people, to vote because they can cast their ballots at there own convenience. SOURCE: The Korea Times

THAILAND: Mobile firms foresee slow growth next year
Many companies focus on anticipated 3G technology
Thailand’s telecommunications industry is expecting sluggish growth in 2008 with companies adopting a wait-and-see attitude, say major mobile-phone operators. The sector is also in transition, with major operators looking for clear government policies on long-delayed third-generation (3G) mobile services from the regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). At an industry forum at the Thailand Focus 2007 conference yesterday, heads of the three major mobile operators — AIS, DTAC and True Move — agreed that regulators would be the number-one factor for sector growth. Athueck Asvanund, vice-chairman of True Corporation, said the local telecom industry is locked in a waiting period, pinning hopes on issuing 3G licences. SOURCE: Bangkok Post

SINGAPORE: ST video news now just a phone call away
Vodcast Mobile streams video news clips in real-time at no or low costs and at higher speeds
You may want to put this number in the phonebook of your cellphone: 6403-9838. This is because, from today — if you have a 3G-enabled mobile phone and Sim card — you will be able to watch video news clips from The Straits Times for free or at minimal cost. The new service, called The Straits Times Vodcast Mobile, will give users access to news content if they simply make a video call to the number. SOURCE: The Straits Times

THAILAND: Tough new restrictions on news reports of family abuse
Law prevents news outlets from displaying information or photos of domestic abuse victims and offenders
The media must show more caution in using photos or stories about domestic violence, or face tougher legal action than they ever expected under the new domestic violence law, legal experts warned yesterday. Narong Jaiharn, of Thammasat University’s Research and Consultancy Institute, said violating the law could mean a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or a fine of 60,000 baht. The new act for protection of victims of domestic violence was passed on Aug 14, and will take effect on Nov 14. While protecting victims of domestic violence it also gives offenders the opportunity to reform so as to maintain a family relationship. SOURCE: Bangkok Post

Indonesia & Malaysia Media Notes

Malaysia cracks down on bloggers

The Malaysian government has warned it could use tough anti-terrorism laws against bloggers who insult Islam or the country’s king. The move comes as one of Malaysia’s leading online commentators has been questioned by police following a complaint by the main governing party. The new rules would allow a suspect to be detained indefinitely, without being charged or put on trial. But officials insist the law is not intended to strangle internet freedom. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told The Straits Times that the move was aimed at getting some moderation in postings on the internet, especially on sensitive issues: “Some people feel that they have crossed the line, in making racist remarks,” he said.

But the BBC’s Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur says the government also appears increasingly concerned about the growing online criticism of its record. Raja Petra Kamarudin, the editor of one of Malaysia’s most popular political websites, Malaysia Today, turned himself in to police on Wednesday, to answer allegations that he had mocked Islam and threatened racial harmony. Raja Petra is known for his frequent criticism of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and other government figures.
“I was alleged to have insulted the king, and also Islam and incite racial hatred, so I am going in there to reply to all these charges. I promise I’m going to give them a hell of a tough time,” he told the BBC before he turned himself in.

He defended his website, saying: “Many people, especially the non-Malays in this country, do not have a forum to air their views.” “We should not deny these people a chance to vent their feelings,” he said. Malaysia Today is believed to attract around a quarter of a million visitors a day, giving it more readers than most Malaysian newspapers. The BBC’s correspondent says that with a general election on the horizon, the government seems keen to send a signal to its online critics that it will only tolerate so much.

Indonesia Media Notes

In a recent meeting with the largest VCD/DVD distributor in Indonesia (they handle Sony, Paramount, Dreamworks, MGM and Discovery and have 90 wholly owned stores Indonesia wide) we discussed how the business works. They release 30-40 new titles per month and expect to sell 15-20,000 copies over six months. Their top sellers will sell no more than 40,000 over three years. At some point, these DVDs are duplicated and enter into the pirate market that is estimated to have a 12-15% market “share”. Tarra distributes a number of religious programs, including MATTHEW and ACTS (selling more than 12,000 each over three years), the “Morman Puzzle”, three Grizzly Adams programs, the “Da Vinci Deception”, “Was Mary Magdalene a Saint or Sinner?”, “Did Jesus Walk the Earth”; and the Illustra Media programs, “The Privileged Planet” and “Unlocking the Mysteries of Life”.

This company, the Tarra Group, concentrates on providing product to the B & C demograpic category. This group would have a household income of $500 to $1500 per month – the difference being the Cs would be employed, while the Bs would own their own business. The B category rents more DVDs than they purchase. The D category would be the poor. In the city they would be moto taxi drivers or drive the little 3 wheel Bahaj taxis for example. There would earn under $100 per month.

An interesting phenomen is the rise of original productions here in Indonesia. This is happening because the digital era has significantly reduced the cost of equipment and the rise of the independent producers has happened here as well as elsewhere in the region. These Indonesian language programs are never pirated! Only original disks are available and in most cases they are more expensive.

Regional Media News 4/18/07

Blogs celebrate 10th anniversary in Korea
Korea’s blogger population today totals around 13.51 million
Korea saw the birth of its first Web bloggers in 2001, via WIK. Although these early online diarists came later than Dave Winer, a New Yorker who launched the world’s first Weblog Scripting News in 1997, they opened the door to the burgeoning blogging services of Cyworld, Naver, and Daum’s Tistory. WIK is now defunct, but 150 of its members still maintain their own blogs, according to the National Internet Development Agency of Korea.
There are about 13.51 million active bloggers, or 39.6 percent among the 34.12 million internet users in Korea, as of December last year, according to the NIDA. Often called “citizen media,” blogs can offer new insights, and different perspectives than those found in conventional media. For instance, a netizen acted earlier than the state-run natural disaster management center and major broadcasters or newspapers, in reporting strong earthquakes in Gangwon Province earlier this year. He made a real-time reporting of the accident by uploading videos on major blogs and community services.

INDIA: Couple’s interview sparks attack on TV office
Viewers protest broadcast of romance between different religions on television station
Mumbai — The staff of an Indian news channel was attacked on Monday and its offices were ransacked by dozens of Hindu protestors after it broadcast an interview with a runaway couple — a teenage Hindu girl and a young Muslim man. About 50 people attacked the channel’s office in Mumbai, saying the television company was denigrating Hinduism by appearing to promote love between people from different religions. Marriage outside ones own caste, religion and background is frowned upon in much of officially secular, Hindu-dominated India. Romantic liaisons between Hindus and Muslims have sparked riots.

INDONESIA: Faiths unite to condemn video attacking Islam
Video angers both Muslims and Christians

South China Morning Post
Christian and Muslim organisations have condemned a Christian-produced video that reportedly labels Islam “the source of all Indonesia’s ills and a sure pathway to hell”. The VCD was made by a group in Batu, a small town near the city of Malang, East Java, in December. Yet its existence was reported to the authorities only recently. Police investigations show the recording was made using a handycam and then copied onto video-CD format.
A spokesman for the group admitted its existence and apologised profusely for it.

Source: Asia Media News

Technology News – April 9, 2007

Blogging is social phenomenon in Asia: report

Asia’s blogosphere is surging forward with nearly half, 46 per cent, of those online actively blogging, according to research released by Microsoft’s MSN and Windows Live Online Services Business. The research showed that blogging is a social phenomenon with Asians primarily blogging as a means to maintain and build their social connections and to express themselves. The research findings are reportedly based on an online survey of more than 25,000 MSN portal visitors across seven markets….

The report suggested that netizens in Asia are most interested in those blogs written by friends and family (74 per cent) while blogs by work colleagues were the second most popular blog but were a distant second with only a quarter of respondents showing interest. In South Korea and India, however, respondents are most interested in blogs covering a specific topic of interest, the report said. The survey also shows that blogs are a relatively trusted source of information with half of respondents believing that blog content is as trustworthy as traditional media. A quarter of respondents also believed blogs to be the quickest way to learn about news and current affairs. Source: DigitalMediaAsia.com

Cambodia bans text messaging ahead of polls

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – SMS text messaging has been banned in Cambodia over the weekend amid fears of political unrest as the country votes for local government administrators, election officials said Friday.

The announcement came on the final day of campaigning before the Sunday polls, as thousands of ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) supporters rallied in the capital Phnom Penh, snarling traffic for hours. “Most people are using cell phones which can receive campaign messages from political parties. On these two days, the environment must be quiet, according to the law,” the National Election Committee said in a statement.
Source: AsiaPacificUniverse.com

Presidential candidates’ new soapbox for 2008: social networking, video Web sites

With voter turnout among young people rising from 36 percent in the 2000 election to 47 percent in 2004, candidates are posting their campaign positions on YouTube.com, chronicling campaign stops on MySpace.com and promoting rallies on Facebook.com, the social-networking site with 10 million users. “This age group is poised to be the age group that makes a winning difference in a close presidential race,” said Heather Smith, director of young-voter strategies at George Washington University. “And, to engage these young voters, a campaign must communicate about issues that matter, through mediums that are familiar.”
Source: SignonSanDiego.com

YouTube popularity explodes in Japan

But intellectual property defenders are watching the video-sharing website closely
Taipei Times
Monday, April 2, 2007
Satoshi Watanabe smiles wryly as he remembers the day YouTube’s young founders showed up in Tokyo dressed awkwardly in suits and ties to try to calm a copyright row. Before jetting home, YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen agreed to post a Japanese-language notice on the hit US video-sharing Web site warning against illegal uploads. Youtube’s user base is growing more quickly in Japan than any of the other major Web sites, including Yahoo Japan, Amazon.co.jp or Wikipedia.org, according to the latest report by Internet research firm NetRatings Japan.
Even though it does not have a separate Japanese-language version, last month YouTube notched up its 10 millionth Japanese visitor after just 14 months — one-fifth of the nation’s entire home Internet users.
IMPLICATION: If more and more Japanese are going to Youtube and viewing materials, how could we use this low cost medium to reach Japanese?

YOUTUBE, GOOGLEVIDEO and China’s UUSee

A previous article on this blog discussed the various delivery methods for media content – Jesus’ MySpace page, the Singapore young people watching TV on YOUTUBE. In case you do not know, YOUTUBE is an extremely popular internet download site. A global study reports that nearly 40 percent of internet users download and watch videos on the web and — get this — 54 percent of young people want to create or share their own content on the web. “The global study by consultancy Accenture found that audiences want more control over where and when they watch footage, and they want to make more of their own.”

In June of last year YOUTUBE reportedly served 2.5 billion videos to 20 million unique visitors! That represents a 29% share of the US multimedia market!

So, what does that mean for using visual media to reach the lost? Internet services like YOUTUBE are key word driven. People are curious about destiny, life, traveling, etc. The postmodern does not see themselves as “lost” but nonetheless they are curious. Sometime ago I established http://viral-life.blogspot.com/. Some are vids from friends like Platform 6 (4,045 views). The others are student vids. Heartbeat (584 views and 18 downloads), Indifference (363/3), the company’s Tsunami Miracle (2175 views and 33 downloads). My other site http://the-task-virals.blogspot.com/ hosts vids more oriented to mobilization. For example the PacRim video, Casting the Net has been viewed 91 times and downloaded 5 times, reaching an audience not reached otherwise. One of my former students spent 3 weeks in the Philippines and produced the Nehemiah Teams Video (thus far it has been viewed 283 times and downloaded twice).

What we are talking about is changing media habits. Major international agencies believe that internet access for the poor is a top priority and lost of money is being poured into it. Take a look at http://handclasp-international.org/ in the section titled Multi-Sectoral Community Development for more information. We need to be ahead of the curve in PacRim! DH

Regional news 3/12/07

Malaysian minister in row over reported remark that bloggers are liars, jobless women KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia’s tourism minister refused to respond Monday to accusations that he had insulted women by reportedly saying that Internet bloggers are liars, and many are jobless women. The Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh quoted Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor as saying last week that “All bloggers are liars, they cheat people using all kinds of methods. From my understanding, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women.” …Many of Malaysia’s most popular blogs offer political commentaries that include criticism of government policies. The pro-government New Straits Times newspaper sued two political bloggers for alleged defamation earlier this year in Malaysia’sfirst lawsuits involving online journals. See Jakarta Post 3/12/07 ed.
Indonesia tests Korea’s TDMB service. JAKARTA. Indonesia has launched terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting on a test basis, the Korean Information Ministry said yesterday. TDMB is one of Korea’s mobile TV platforms, which allows people in cars to view landline-based TV content on portable devices such as mobile phones. Indonesia’s National Digital Team – consisting of government agencies, broadcasters, telecom companies, universities and non-governmental organizations – has asked the Korean Information Ministry to facilitate the test service, the ministry said. The Korean government will be supporting related DMB encoders and devices. See The Korean Herald 3/12/07
Licences for WiMax due at end of year. Pacific keen to be among first providers
 BANGKOK. The National Telecommunications Communications says it expects to issue licences for the fourth generation of wireless broadband service, known as WiMax, by the end of this year. NTC director Prasit Prapingmongkolkarn made the comment after a recent forum to hear opinions from Internet service providers about WiMax and the spectrum standard for wireless connectivity. See Bangkok Post 3/12/07.
Gamers keep violence virtual . YANGON. FOR Mg Nay Lin Zaw, a high school student from downtown Yangon, network computer game centres provide the only relief from a daily routine that includes long hours at school, private tuition and scheduled study periods that never seem to end…. I spend most of my pocket money on network gaming. Sometimes, there’s nothing left for snacks and I even have to borrow from friends,” said the lean 15 year old. “My parents don’t say anything because they gave me the right to manage my money how I like. They don’t stop me because I’m not doing anything immoral.” Mg Nay Lin Zaw is only one of a growing number of middle-class urban teenagers who are obsessed with network games. They have replaced home-based TV games in popularity as advanced technology has prompted the development of three-dimensional graphic interfaces and now allows multiple players from remote locations to play against one another. See The Myanmar Times (11/20/06 online)
Students donate computers to schools in Laos SINGAPORE. Students in Singapore have lent a hand to their fellow learners in Laos. Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) has contributed 100 laptops and desktops to 10 primary schools there, to help make the learning of English a more enjoyable experience for the children. See The Vientiane Times 3/12/07
Telecom doubles subscribers. HANOI. HA NOI. The Viet Nam Data Communication Company (VDC) reported 140,061 new subscribers to its MegaVNN internet services last year, over 200 per cent its target. The new subscribers increased VDC’s market share in broadband internet market to 46 per cent. Meanwhile, VDC’s direct internet service also posted a 130 per cent increase in terms of new subscribers, again well outpacing executives’ expectations. See the Viet Nam News 3/12/07
TU Media unveils new in-vehicle convergence device SEOUL. TU Media Corp. yesterday introduced a new convergence device that allows people in cars to view satellite- and landline-based mobile TV content, real-time traffic information and the latest movies. “The device is the first of its kind as it supports Korea’s two mobile TV platforms – satellite digital multimedia broadcasting and terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting,” TU Media CEO and president Seo Young-kil said. See the Korea Herald 3/12/07
No. 1 in cell phone subscription growth TOKYO — KDDI Corp posted the largest subscription increase in February among domestic cell phone service providers, for the seventh consecutive month, the Telecommunications Carriers Association reported Wednesday. KDDI, which offers its cell phone services under the names au and Tu-Ka, recorded a net increase of 224,400 subscriptions to bring its total number of subscriptions to 27.66 million. Softbank Mobile was second with a net gain of 120,400 subscribers for a total of 15.78 million. NTT DoCoMo remained in third, posting a net increase of 102,200 to about 52.32 million. See Japan Today 3/12/07
Business Lessons from ‘300’ MANILA. Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. – John Kotter Beyond business schools or business textbooks, we can derive so many priceless lessons from the annals of history and the lives of great leaders. Warner Brothers has fabulously recreated in the exciting film 300 the heroism of the 300 Spartan warriors led by King Leonidas in the epic Battle of Thermopylae against the million-strong Persian hordes of King Xerxes. This visually stunning, well-written, entertaining and action-packed film was based on the popular graphic novel by Frank Miller. I recommend this movie to everyone, except for kids. Here are seven lessons business people, entrepreneurs and other professionals can learn from the movie 300 and the timeless saga of the Battle of Thermopylae. See The Philippine STAR 03/12/2007

Never mind the TV, we watch online

Who needs the boob tube when YouTube rocks? Not Singaporeans in the know, says Tessa Wong Straits Times
Monday, February 26, 2007. By Tessa Wong
Lately, my flatmates and I just can’t get enough of the BBC television series Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Night after night, the three of us gather on our couch in anticipatory glee, as I turn on my laptop, surf onto video-sharing website YouTube, and watch episodes of the half-hour British music quiz show. Yes, you read that right. We watch our TV on the Internet — and we aren’t the only ones doing this. Whether it is streaming video from broadcasters’ websites, or uploaded clips on independent video websites, watching TV on the Internet has become a recent phenomenon among digital natives.
YouTube is replacing the “boob tube,” if the results of a recent research study are anything to go by. The survey, conducted by Yahoo! and media communications company OMD, revealed that the average Singaporean teenager often performs up to four tasks while watching television.
No longer the captive audience of the goggle box, local youth today are relegating broadcast television to background white noise, while they busy themselves with surfing the Internet, chatting to friends using instant messenger programmes — or even watching other TV programmes on their computers. In other words, while youth still turn on their TVs, they tune out mentally, favouring the online medium.
It isn’t hard to see why. Broadcast TV is ruled by regimented schedules and shackled by long, annoying advertising breaks. By contrast, watching TV online is a fuss-free way to catch shows wherever and whenever you want to watch it, as long as you know which websites to go to, and have a good Internet connection.
The portable nature of this method, plus the fact that it’s totally free, has won it a fair share of young fans. “I like watching television this way. It’s cheaper because I don’t have to keep buying DVDs or VCDs just to continue watching my favourite show,” said Koa Jiayin, 15, a Secondary 4 student from Holy Innocents’ High School.
She can spend up to five hours a day watching Korean dramas and Japanese anime on YouTube. Said Ms Chen Peishan, a 27-year-old recent university graduate who watches 100 per cent of her TV online: “People want to watch television programmes at their own leisure. I don’t like it when my life revolves around watching TV shows according to a fixed schedule.”
Watching TV online is such a huge worldwide trend that major broadcasters in the United States and Britain now offer full episodes of their shows on their websites for free. Here in Singapore, home subscribers to M2Btv and MediaCorp’s mobtv pay monthly fees to watch TV online.
But it is doubtful that net-savvy youths — and there are so many in Singapore — will pay $10.90 a month to catch last week’s instalment of The Dance Floor. Why should they? They can easily watch the same episode on YouTube without paying a cent. If this latest youth trend is anything to go by, a future where everyone watches TV on the Internet — free, any time, any place — is not inconceivable. And we will be slaves to the goggle box no more.